Projo Pats Blog

--- The New England Patriots promoted rookie linebacker Vince Redd from the practice squad today to the active roster, and placed linebacker Eric Alexander on the injured reserve list.

Here is the press release that the Patriots sent out.

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The New England Patriots signed rookie linebacker Vince Redd to the active roster from their practice squad today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Redd will wear number 49 for the Patriots. New England also placed linebacker Eric Alexander on the reserve/injured list. Alexander will miss the remainder of the 2008 season with a hamstring injury. Additionally, the Patriots downgraded running back LaMont Jordan and cornerback Mike Richardson to "OUT" on their injury report for tomorrow's game against the Miami Dolphins.

Redd, 23, was signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Liberty on May 2, 2008. The 6-foot-6-inch, 260-pound linebacker was released by the Patriots in the final preseason roster cutdown on Aug. 30, 2008 and was signed to the Patriots' practice squad the following day. Redd has been a member of the Patriots' practice squad for the entire season up to this point and has not played in an NFL game. He began his college career at the University of Virginia (2004-05) before transferring to Liberty, where he finished his college career in 2007.

Alexander, 26, has played in 31 NFL games with the Patriots since being signed as a rookie free agent out of Louisiana State on April 29, 2004. The 6-foot-2-inch, 240-pound linebacker played in one game this season, against Kansas City on Sept. 7, and did not record any statistics. In his NFL career, Alexander has recorded eight tackles (7 solo) and 26 special teams tackles. He has also played in six playoff games with one start and has totaled 10 solo playoff tackles, including one sack. Last season, Alexander placed fourth on the team with a career-high 14 special teams tackles.

The New England Patriots downgraded running back LaMont Jordan and cornerback Mike Richardson to "out" for tomorrow's game against Miami, meaning that they will not play.

FOXBORO -- First the good news.

Vince Wilfork was back at practice today.

So what's the bad news?

Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi (knee) and defensive end Richard Seymour (toe), who both had limited participation in practice today, are listed as questionable, and running back LaMont Jordan (calf), who did not practice, is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game.

In addition, center Dan Koppen (elbow), safety Ray Ventrone (concussion), and cornerback Mike Richardson (concussion) are listed as questionable, and linebackers Eric Alexander (hamstring) and Adalius Thomas (forearm) are already ruled out for Sunday's game.

For Miami, tight end David Martin did not participate in practice today.

FOXBORO -- The Patriots were without several key components to their defense last night, including linebacker Adalius Thomas (broken forearm), defensive lineman Ty Warren (groin), and defensive backs Terrence Wheatley (wrist) and Lewis Sanders (hamstring), but linebacker Tedy Bruschi said that was no excuse for giving up 34 points to the Jets.

"That is the way it has been out there starting with Tom [Brady] at the beginning of the year," Bruschi said of the injuries. "You have to deal with it. You have to deal with things even as the season rolls and rolls. Guys are going to get hurt and guys are going to get aches and pains. Whoever is asked to go out there and play has to get the job done. We don't look at it as who is not out there. We look at it as how do the guys play that are out there. That is the way we see things."

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Patriots rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo had another phenomenal game last night, this time in a losing effort against the New York Jets.

He recorded a game-high 20 tackles, including 16 solo tackles and two tackles for a loss. He also had a pass deflection.

"I expect a lot out of Jerod, but he expects more out of himself," Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "The way he works and the way he tries to prepare himself, tonight he was making plays in coverage and on short yardage. It was a good night for him."

Mayo, who the Patriots selected in the first round (10th overall) of this year's NFL Draft, now leads the NFL in tackles with 91.

"He is one of the better linebackers that we have seen in a while," Belichick said of Mayo on Draft Day.

Mayo starred at Tennessee, leading the SEC with 140 tackles last year.

New England Patriots:

QB Matt Gutierrez -- third quarterback
CB Terrence Wheatley
CB Lewis Sanders
RB LaMont Jordan
LB Eric Alexander
OT Wesley Britt
DL Ty Warren
LB Adalius Thomas

New York Jets:

QB Brett Ratliff -- third quarterback
K Mike Nugent
WR David Clowney
RB Marcus Mason
CB Drew Coleman
S Eric Smith
LB David Harris
TE Bubba Franks

-- Here is the breakdown of who participated in practice for the Colts and who did not.

Full Participation

RB Joseph Addai (hamstring)
DB Bob Sanders (knee)
RB Dominic Rhodes (ankle)
DE Robert Mathis (not injury related)
DB Tim Jennings (not injury related)
DE Dwight Freeney (not injury related)
LB Gary Brackett (not injury related)

Did Not Participate

RB Clifton Dawson (concussion)
WR Roy Hall (knee)
DB Dante Hughes (ankle)
DB Marlin Jackson (placed on IR)
TE Tom Santi (shoulder)
WR Reggie Wayne (knee)
DB Kelvin Hayden (knee/hamstring)
LB Freddy Keiaho (knee)

-- After seeing only limited action in practice on Wednesday, Patriots All-Pro receiver Randy Moss participated fully in practice this afternoon, and cornerback Ellis Hobbs, who did not practice on Wednesday, returned to practice with limited participation today.

Patriots linebacker Shawn Crable (shin), running back Sammy Morris (knee), and cornerback Lewis Sanders did not practice today

Running back LaMont Jordan (calf), linebacker Eric Alexander (hamstring), defensive end Jarvis Green (ankle), offensive tackle Nick Kaczur (ankle), and wide receiver Matthew Slater (ankle) all had limited participation in practice.

By ROBERT LEE
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

FOXBORO - The Indianapolis Colts expect to get one key offensive weapon back Sunday night when the Colts host the Patriots at Lucas Oil Stadium - Pro Bowl running back Joseph Addai.

Addai, who made his first Pro Bowl last season, went down with a hamstring injury against Baltimore on Oct. 12 and has not played since.

He returned to practice on Wednesday and Colts coach Tony Dungy said that Addai will play Sunday if he does not suffer a setback.

Addai is second on the Colts in rushing with 62 carries for 216 yards with four rushing touchdowns even though he has not played since Oct. 12. He only rushed the ball twice against Baltimore before getting injured.

Dominic Rhodes ran well in his place and he leads the team in rushing with 69 carries for 247 yards and three touchdowns.

"We've got to stop the run," Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas said. "Addai will be coming back and Rhodes, either one, both of them are good backs. Whoever is in there, we have to [stop the run]."

"Addai is a great player," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "I think that Rhodes is a quality player too. He has shown that in the past. He certainly showed it in the opportunities he has had to play. [When] they run their offense, he can do everything they need him to do and I think Addai is a good player too. Whichever one of them is in there we will have to be prepared for."

Addai, who is in his third NFL season, has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons in the NFL.

"He's an explosive runner," New England linebacker Mike Vrabel said. "He's a good jump-cut runner."

-- Patriots coach Bill Belichick just held his conference call with the media today and among the topics discussed were how good the Pats played Monday night against Denver, injuries, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis's performance, and the St. Louis Rams playing well as of late.

Belichick gave no update on the potential career-ending quad injury suffered by Rodney Harrison.

"I don't have any updates on injuries," Belichick said. "It was difficult for all of us to watch Rodney get carted off like he did. We hope that goes well for him. When we have some more information we'll give it to you."

When asked what Harrison means to the team, Belichick said, "Rodney, he's one of the leaders on the defense from experience and his playing style and his production. He's a good player and he's been a good player [with us] for what's going on six years now. It was hard to watch him go through what happened last night. It's tough. I feel badly for him. Injuries, you hate to see that with any player...We all feel badly for him."

On running back Laurence Maroney, Belichick said that the Patriots placed him on season-ending injured reserve because, "there was a problem with his shoulder that we thought wasn't going to resolve this year."

Belichick did not expand on Sammy Morris's knee injury either.

"I really can't say too much about it. It's the day after the game. We'll see how he goes today. When we go to practice tomorrow we'll see where all of the players are tomorrow."

Of Green-Ellis's 13 carry, 65-yard, 1 touchdown performance, Belichick said, ""I thought he ran with good vision and good balance like he usually does in practice. Hopefully he can continue to take those experiences and the work that he got last night and build on that going forward."

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Patriots safety Rodney Harrison injured his knee on the last play of the third quarter and will not return to the game. Harrison had five tackles in the game before the injury.

He was taken off of the field on a golf cart and cheered by the Gillette Stadium crowd.

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees hopes that he has figured out a way to get to Denver quarterback Jay Cutler tonight.

Nobody has had that much success getting to him so far. He has only been sacked a league-low two times in six games.

Sacks are good, but putting pressure on Cutler can be just as effective, New England coach Bill Belichick said.

"I think the sack statistic can be a little over rated," Belichick said. "It is really about pressure and forcing the ball out, on time or early. You always want to get pressure on the quarterback; there is no doubt about that."

Cutler gives a lot of credit for not being sacked a lot to his offensive line.

"Early in the year, the first couple of games, we saw a lot of blitzes and the line did a good job of picking stuff up, I got rid of the ball in time and we've been fortunate the last two or three games that people aren't blitzing us as much," Cutler said. "The way the offensive line is playing I have a lot of confidence in them."

The Patriots haven't had a lot of success so far this season getting to opposing quarterbacks. They rank 30th out of 32 teams with only seven quarterback sacks. Even so, Cutler respects New England's defense.

"They're a good defense," Cutler said. "They're extremely smart. They're able to take away some of the good players from some teams offensively. They mix it up; they do a lot of different stuff. They throw stuff at you, they're in a 3-4 then they're in a 4-3. They just keep you on your toes so we're going to have our hands full."

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Miami first-year coach Tony Sparano couldn't hold back the tears in the locker room during his postgame speech with the Dolphins after they dismantled the Patriots, 38-13.

"I'm happy for the guys in that room," a teary-eyed Sparano said. "You probably don't know it. I know how hard they work and they deserve this, they do. They deserve for good things to happen. I'm proud for them, proud for our owners, I'm proud for everybody in that organization.

"They deserved that. But most importantly, [I'm proud of] the players. I love what they did. Their effort was tremendous today. It really was. I thought they flew around the entire day . . . They executed the game plan on both sides of the ball to perfection."

Miami linebacker Joey Porter said that the Dolphins wanted to win for Sparano.

"He's been working us to death since we got here and it's always good to see when hard work pays off," Porter said. "Nobody ever believed in us. He did from Day One. He always believed in us and it's always good to return the favor. We gave him his first victory and gave him the game ball."

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- One little known rule to NFL fans is the fact that NFL teams must stay on their own side of the 45-yard line during pre-game warmups.

The Patriots, Miami defensive end Vonnie Holiday said, broke that rule Sunday, which got the Dolphins even more fired up for yesterday's AFC East contest.

"The 45-yard-line, you're not supposed to cross it, well they came right through our stretching [drills] and that fired us up," Holliday said. "Basically, I guess, they were preparing for the sun but they had all day to prepare for the sun, to kick into the sun so their guys could catch it, but they waited until we came out for stretching to come out.

"The whole reason why the 45-yard rule was put in place was because of Joey Porter so you have to respect him, because if not he'll make sure that you know about it."

In 2004, Porter had a run-in with Cleveland running back William Green that resulted in a $10,000 fine for each player.

"That had us fired up from the beginning," Porter said. "I know they are wishing they didn't do it now because they had us fired up when we came out on the field."

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Miami linebacker Joey Porter gave the Patriots plenty of bulletin-board material for yesterday's game.

Talking about Matt Cassel, Porter said, "I just know he's not a Tom Brady. So if it's not Tom Brady, it shouldn't be that hard."

He didn't stop there.

"You treat him like you treat a backup," Porter said. "How do you prepare for a backup? He don't get that many snaps, right? So you throw the kitchen sink at him. That's what we're going to do."

If that wasn't bad enough, Porter added that the Dolphins were going to go to Foxboro and leave winners.

It turns out he was right - about everything.

The Dolphins blitzed Cassel early and often, sacked him three times, intercepted a pass, forced him to fumble, and rarely gave him a lot of time to make throws.

The result was a sub-par 19-for-31 for 131 yards with one touchdown and one interception outing for Cassel, and a 38-13 Miami victory.

"They are a different team with Tom leaving," Porter said after the game. "Not to take anything away from Matt Cassel, but those are just tough shoes to fill for any backup."

Confusing Cassel was the name of the game for the Dolphins.

"We had a couple of different packages and came after him a little bit," said Porter, who had three sacks a forced fumble, and six tackles. "We made him make some tough decisions. We just didn't let him sit back there and make him feel like he had all day."

Porter said that it is very hard for a quarterback who has not started a lot of NFL games to pick up blitz schemes and coverage packages when a defense is continually changing them and that's why he was confident that the Dolphins' could confuse Cassel.

"You just don't understand how hard it is for a quarterback to come in and pick up all of those blitzes and all of the defenses when he hasn't really been doing it for that long," Porter said. "It doesn't matter if he's been in the league that many years, the preseason isn't the same as the regular season. He had only started one game coming into this [game]...I feel like we should be able to rattle any quarterback under those circumstances."

As far as guaranteeing a victory, Porter said those words never came out of his mouth.

"Ya'll said that I guaranteed a win. I said that it would be good for us to come up here and get our first victory."

"The thing about Joey is he's always fired up and he channeled that energy today," Miami defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. "He did an ubelieveable job. I've never seen Joey not fired up to be honest with you but he came out and continued to put pressure on [Cassel]."

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- The Patriots' offensive red-zone woes continued in the first half, and their play on the defensive side of the ball inside the red-zone was even worse.

The Patriots were hoping to improve their red-zone percentage after scoring a touchdown on just one of five red-zone attempts against the Jets last weekend.

On their first trip inside the red zone today, Miami sacked quarterback Matt Cassel on two consecutive plays, and then intercepted a Cassel pass to keep the Patriots out of the end zone.

Randy Starks's interception set up an 8-play, 74-yard scoring drive by the Dolphins which running back Ronnie Brown capped off with a two-yard touchdown run, giving Miami a 7-0 lead. Brown took a direct snap from the center and scampered into the end zone on a "quarterback draw."

The next time the Dolphins got inside the red-zone, Brown capped off a 6-play, 79-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.

Then, 59 seconds before halftime, Brown scored on another direct-snap touchdown run, this time from five-yards out, as the Dolphins scored a touchdown on all three of their trips into the red-zone in the first half.

The Dolphins are stunning the Patriots, 21-6.

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- There was a lot of interest surrounding who would start opposite Ellis Hobbs at the left cornerback position during the preseason.

Lewis Sanders earned the starting job in Week One, but two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Deltha O'Neal, after making a game-saving pass deflection in Week One against Kansas City, and getting a better grasp on the playbook, started there in Week Two.

O'Neal is listed as the starter this afternoon.

Belichick said that both Sanders and O'Neal have played well at the position, and Patriots safety Rodney Harrison gave his good friend O'Neal high-praises earlier this week.

"He's a Pro Bowler, a starter, and a first-round draft choice so pressure is nothing new to Deltha," Harrison said of O'Neal. "I think he's done a tremendous job. He plays on my side. He really listens and does a great job of communicating.

"[Our playbook] is stuff he's seen before it's just the terminology is a little different. We're friends and we have a good relationship so it allows us to work that much easier together. He's just a consummate pro."

Both O'Neal and Sanders said that it doesn't matter to them who starts. They just want to help the Patriots win.

Inactive players for the Patriots today:

WR -- Kelley Washington
FB -- Kyle Eckel
RB -- Laurence Maroney
LB -- Eric Alexander
C -- Dan Connolly
T -- Wesley Britt
LB -- Shawn Crable

Inactive players for the Dolphins today:

WR -- Brandon London
RB Jalen Parmele
G -- Shawn Murphy
DE - Lionel Dotson
T --Nate Garner
T -- Kirk Barton
DE -- Rodrique Wright

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- The Patriots are a team that pride themselves on overcoming adversity.

Losing veteran quarterback Tom Brady is just the latest adversity that the Patriots will have to overcome.

They have vowed that losing Brady will not derail their season.

"We've been in this situation before," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. "It's nothing new to us. We've been in this situation where everyone said, `[we] are going to win X amount of games,' or, `now [we] don't have a chance,' but it really doesn't matter what the outsiders say.

"It's all about what we believe in this locker room and the way you do it is you work hard, you prepare and you go out there and prove it on Sundays. When people say you don't have a chance, that's OK, we'll see what happens on Sunday."

FOXBORO -- Patriots running back Laurence Maroney (shoulder) returned to practice yesterday which is good news for the Patriots.

But he is listed as questionable for tomorrow's game against Miami, meaning that there is a 50 percent chance that he won't play. Couple that with the fact that Patriots' leading rusher LaMont Jordan (foot), who did not practice all week, is listed as doubtful, meaning there is a 75 percent chance or more that he won't play, and the Patriots rushing attack could be in trouble.

If they can't go, Morris, Kevin Faulk, and Heath Evans will get the bulk of the carries against a Miami team that ranks 26th in the NFL in yards allowed (369 yards per game), and 25th in points allowed per game (25.5).

Wide receiver Kelley Washington (ankle), who also has not practiced all week, is also listed as doubtful, linebacker Eric Alexander (calf) is listed as questionable, and nose tackle Vince Wilfork (back) is listed as probable.

FOXBORO -- At today's press conference, Patriots coach Bill Belichick called Troy Brown one of his favorite players.

It's always good to see Troy and have Troy around," Belichick said. "He's been a great player for this organization and he's got great leadership and great character. He's done a lot here. It was really an honor for me to coach him. You can go back to '96 when I was first here -- he's one of the all-timers."

Brown is the Patriots all-time leading punt returner with 252 punts for 2,625 yards and three touchdowns, and he is the franchise all-time leader in receptions (557) and second all-time in receiving yards (6,366).

FOXBORO -- Tight end Benjamin Watson is hoping to play in his first game this season on Sunday, which could be a big lift for the Patriots offense.

Watson, who was missed the first two games with a knee injury, has been at practice every day this week, and he said that he can't wait to finally play in a game.

"I'm rehabbing and doing everything I can to get better," said Watson, who caught six touchdown passes last season and was a big threat in the red-zone. "It's going to be a coaching decision - what, how much, or if [I play], but I'm doing everything I can do."

Watson has the most catches over a three-year span (114 catches from 2005-07) by a Patriots tight end over a three-year period since Ben Coats caught 165 passes from 1997-1999.

"I'm very anxious," Watson said. "Injuries are something that happen to everybody at some point in time in their career but you just deal with it like anything else in life and try to come back from it."

By ROBERT LEE
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

FOXBORO -- Tom Brady won't be suiting up for the Patriots this season, but that doesn't mean he can't help in other ways.

His appearance at practice on Thursday gave the Patriots morale a big lift, defensive back Rodney Harrison said.

"He's still a part of this team," Harrison said. "He's still a captain of this team. He's still the leader of this team. I had a brief talk with Tom today just to express my appreciation of seeing him and seeing his smiling face. His presence alone makes a difference in this locker room.

"Coming to say hello to the guys, it was very encouraging to see Tom, and like I said yesterday, Tom can still have a lasting impact on this team because he has so much knowledge of the game so he can help in so many different areas of recognition -- watching film and helping [Matt] Cassel out on the offense."

Harrison missed nearly all of the 2005-06 season when he was hit in the knee by a falling Cedrick Wilson and tore the ACL, MCL, and PCL in his left knee, which required surgery to fix.

It has been reported that Brady also suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. Harrison said that he gave Brady some advice about missing a season with a knee injury.

"Just be patient," Harrison said he told Brady. "You are going to learn how to do crossword puzzles and play video games because it's boring as heck being hurt, especially so early in the season."

Brady's streak of playing 128 consecutive games is going to come to an end on Sunday.

"This is going to test Tom as a person as well because you find out a lot about yourself because it's not during the good times when everyone is patting you on the back but in the tough times when you are all by yourself, you find out about your patience levels," Harrison said.

"You really find out, what type of person you are made of. I think as he's gotten hurt and he's facing adversity right now, he'll really grow and mature as a person. Within yourself, you start to appreciate all of the small things you're given - your family, your sisters, your brothers, just the small things in life. You understand that football is important, but not the No. 1 thing."

Harrison said that when he was hurt, Brady was one of the guys that he would send text messages to and "tell him what he did wrong and what he did right. I'm sure he's going to do the same thing with me...You get excited about watching your teammates when you're hurt but at the same time you miss the game because it's what you love to do."

Hey all --

Bill Belichick just had his conference call with the media and the topics of discussion were the new-look New York Jets with quarterback Brett Favre now leading their team, Matt Cassel stepping in for Tom Brady as New England's new quarterback, the possibility of bringing in a veteran third quarterback, and rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo, who played nearly the entire game on Sunday.

When asked for an update about injured quarterback Tom Brady, Belichick said, "I don't have any updates."

Belichick said that the Patriots are fully focused on the Jets right now.

"That's a team that we all know made a lot of moves in the offseason," Belichick said. "We've seen the preseason games as well as last week, the game against Miami which was another solid performance. The Jets always [play well] in all three phases of the game and in the end they made some plays, kind of like we did, to keep Miami out of the end zone on their last drive to win by a touchdown.

"We've always had a tough time with the Jets. The last time we played them up here it was another dogfight and that's what we are expecting down there in New York next week. We have a lot of work to do. We are going to try to improve our team from where we are in the early part of the season and move forward in a positive direction and get ready for the Jets who look a little different with Brett in there at quarterback."

Belichick said that Cassel is well-prepared to play against the Jets on Sunday because he took a lot of snaps during training camp, started all four preseason games, and had a strong outing last week against Kansas City.

"He's played quite a bit of football for us, more than any other quarterback by far in the preseason and he took a lot of snaps in training camp," Belichick said.

"He's had a lot of snaps this year and he's had a lot of preparation and it will increase this week for the Jets relative to last week when Tom took the majority of the snaps."

As far as bringing in a third quarterback, Belichick said that Tim Rattay and Chris Simms did visit Foxboro, but the Patriots did not give them a physical and they did not have a workout with the coaching staff. Belichick said that he did not even see Rattay or Simms during their visit. When they arrived at Foxboro, they were told that things had changed and were told to leave.

And last but not least, Belichick said that he was very impressed with rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo, who played nearly the entire game on defense against Kansas City and recorded six tackles

FOXBORO -- Contrary to what has been widely reported, New England coach Bill Belichick said that the Pats have not worked out a quarterback as of yet.

"In spite of what some people are putting out there we haven't worked out a quarterback or given one a physical," Belichick said. "Believe me, we had a lot of people call us. I can tell you that but in spite of what some people out there are saying that we are doing, that is simply not true. We have not worked out a quarterback."

So will the Patriots work out a quarterback?

"We'll do what's best for our football team, as always," Belichick said. "We'll take a look at what our options are for our football team and we'll do what we feel is best."

FOXBORO -- Moments ago, Patriots coach Bill Belichick spoke about Tom Brady's season-ending knee injury, which will require surgery.

While he did not set a date for when Brady will be back, he did reveal how he feels about the situation.

The following comments were from his 3 p.m. press conference at Foxboro:

"We feel badly for Tom about the injury," Belichick said. "You hate to see anyone go down. Nobody's worked harder and has done more for this team than Tom has so it's a tough setback for him."

Belichick said that nothing will change with Brady out.

"We all just have to do our jobs. That's what every player has to do. Each guy has a job to do, a coach, a player, they have a job to do, and they need to do it as well as they can. Really that doesn't change.

"[Brady] played one position and he played it very well. There will be somebody else playing that position now. I have a lot of confidence in Matt [Cassel] and everybody else does to. They just have to continue to do their job just like they always have and like they always need to."

Later in the press conference, Belichick said: "I think everybody is going to do the same thing that they will do every other week and that's understand what they have to do and do it as well as they can. Prepare as well as they can and go out there and play as well as they can. I think that's what we do. We each have a separate job to do."

Belichick said that he did not know when Brady would return.

"I'm sure when he's ready he'll be back out there."

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Yesterday was a bitter-sweet day for Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel.

He finally got to play significant time in a meaningful NFL game, but it came at a cost - a reported season-ending knee injury to his good friend and All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady, the reigning Most Valuable Player of the NFL.

"You never want to see that happen to a guy like Tom, who's been a mentor for me since I've been here, to go down with an injury but it is part of this business, unfortunately," Cassel said this morning on WEEI's Patriots Monday. "We've got to step up and get ready to go. When your number is called, you just have to be ready."

Cassel said that he was hoping to play yesterday, but at the end of the game in a blowout contest, not in the first quarter. Brady injured his knee with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter after completing a 28 yard pass to Randy Moss and then being taken down by Kansas City safety Bernard Pollard.

Moss fumbled and turned the ball over on the play.

"When you see Tom get knocked down like that, you don't really know what's going on at first because, and I've said this before, I've been here for four years and every time I've seen him get knocked down, he might be shaken up on the play but he [always] gets right back up," said Cassel, who completed 13-of-18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown for a 116 quarterback rating.

"I knew it was serious when he stayed down for a little longer out there so when it all started to happen, the adrenalin pumped, it immediately kicked in, and I didn't know if we were going to get the ball and if I was going to go out on the field so I just strapped on the helmet and got ready to go. Then when I found out that we did lose the ball, I just used that time to really settle myself, get focused, and get ready to go in."

Cassel will be starting this Sunday against the New York Jets and because of that, he will take the bulk of the snaps this week, which he said will help him prepare. He said that the backup quarterback normally only gets five percent of the snaps with the first-string offense in the week leading up to the game.

"I think the preparation will definitely help," Cassel said. "During the course of any given game week, normally the No. 2 quarterback doesn't get many reps, so going into yesterday I prepared like I was a starter but mainly it's mental so I'll have probably some more physical reps this week. I'll be able to prepare and get ready to go against the Jets."

Even though he didn't take very many reps with the first-string offense in the week leading up to yesterday's victory over Kansas City, he said that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels did not alter the game plan.

"If something happens to one of the starters you have to be ready to go and we have to close ranks and move forward," Cassel said. "The game plan really didn't change from what it was when Tom was in the game. We ran the same calls. We went through the same calls on the play sheets. It's not as if they have a separate play sheet for Matt Cassel versus Tom Brady so I just go in there and I do what the coaches tell me and I let those guys figure out the best plays that give us the best opportunities for us to score and try to execute that game plan."

Cassel's two biggest completions were to Randy Moss. The first was a 51-yard strike on third-and-11 from inside the Patriots own 1-yard-line, and the second was a 10-yard touchdown pass that gave New England a 7-0 lead.

"I've worked with Randy throughout camp and I've got tremendous confidence in him," Cassel said. "You just go out there and you react to the game circumstances and I know that he works hard to get open for me and I try to put the ball in a position where he can make a play on it. He was able to do that for me yesterday."

Cassel's first NFL start this Sunday will be a long time coming for him. He has not started a game since 1999, when he was in high school.

"There were a number of times here where I thought, `what the heck am I doing here?'" Cassel said when the years kept going by without a start. "It's been a long wait but it comes down to perseverance, and to continue to push and to work hard, and eventually believe in that time is going to come. Yesterday was a great illustration of [that]. You never know when that time is going to come or when it's going to come.

"I woke up yesterday morning thinking, Oh gosh, I hope I get in late in the game, I hope we're beating them by a lot of points to be completely honest. Little did I know, I'd be in there in the first quarter and I'd have to go down and score some points and lead the team."

While many media pundits thought Cassel might be cut after a poor showing in the preseason, Cassel never lost confidence.

"I felt good about my chances of making the team," Cassel said. "A lot of times you go in and you don't know how you performed but then you watch the film internally with the coaching staff and they make the decision and I received good feedback throughout the preseason from the coaching staff about how I was playing and it was one of those situations where I felt comparable to Matt [Gutierrez].

"He worked real hard and did a great job and prepared well and did a good job in preseason as well but that's the nature of this business, cuts have to me made and fortunately for me I was able to stick around."

Cassel said that he is looking forward to starting against the Jets on Sunday.

"I'm really excited. It's a division game. There is going to be a lot of excitement in the air. The game means a lot and I am just going to go out and prepare to the best of my abilities and get the team ready to go and go down there and give a great effort."

In addition, Cassel said, he is going to be himself on the field, and not try to be like Brady.

"Tom was the MVP of the NFL last year," Cassel said. "He's probably going to go down as one of the top five greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. I'm not trying to be Tom Brady. I'm just trying to be Matt Cassel and I don't know where that is going to take us right now but I know that I'm going to go out there and give 110 percent effort and try to emulate Tom on the field and off the field and go from there."

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Kansas City running back Larry Johnson said that he wasn't surprised that New England limited him to 74 yards on 22 carries (3.4 yards per rush).

"Those guys are real good, [Adalius] Thomas and [Richard] Seymour," Johnson said. "Ty Warren, those guys are Pro Bowl guys, so you're playing against a championship defense. That's what we faced out there. All of our guys were fighting hard and did a good job. They were going to play us hard all the way through. So, we had to keep pounding and pounding and hope for something to open up."

As a team, Kansas City rushed for 102 yards.

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- If there were any jitters for Kansas City quarterback Damon Huard, who was thrown into the game with 2:54 remaining in the third quarter and his team trailing 14-3 after starting quarterback Brodie Croyle was injured on a 10-yard Adalius Thomas sack, he certainly didn't show it.

On his first drive, Huard led Kansas City 63 yards down the field for a touchdown to slash New England's lead to 14-10. He went 4-for-4 on the drive which he capped off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe.

"I was fine," Huard said. "I have been in this stadium before, so that wasn't really a problem. I have been playing in this league for 12 years and you have to be ready to go at any moment. It was a pretty tough day for me to see two of my good friends get hurt in one game. That doesn't happen very often, where both starting quarterbacks go out in the same game. I wish them both a speed recovery."

Huard is referring to Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady, who injured his left knee and did not return with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter, and Croyle, who left the game with a shoulder contusion.

Huard nearly led Kansas City on a fourth-quarter comeback. Trailing 17-10 on their final drive, he completed a 68-yard pass to Devard Darling that put the Chiefs in a first-and-goal situation at New England's five.

"We had some vertical routes going and I felt the pressure," Huard said. "I just tried to throw it to a spot where Devard could make a play. He made a nice catch and almost outran the defender. It was a nice play that gave us a shot and it got us down there. Unfortunately we couldn't finish down there in the red zone. That was very disappointing."

Huard finished the game 8-for-12 for 118 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

"I thought he did a pretty good job for the most part," Kansas City coach Herm Edwards said of Huard.

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO - Welcome back Sammy Morris.

Morris and Laurence Maroney provided an effective 1-2 punch last season in the running game before Morris suffered a season-ending chest/collarbone injury last October.

And that came after back-to-back 100 yard games which he achieved for the first time of his career.

Playing for the first time in a regular-season game since the injury, Morris said that he was very excited to be out on the field.

New England fans were just as happy to see him because he carried the ball 10 times for 53 yards (5.3 yards per rush average) and he scored a touchdown. In addition, he caught five passes for 34 yards.

"I felt good," Morris said. "It's been a long time for me. I haven't played since last October so it's been a long time coming."

Maroney, meanwhile, also rushed the ball 10 times. He finished with 51 yards (5.1 yards per carry average).

"I could have been better but for the most part I feel I played fairly well," Maroney said. "The o-line did a good job getting me to the line of scrimmage and after that anything can happen."

Maroney said that he knew the running backs were going to have to play a good game after quarterback Tom Brady was injured with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter.

"We knew everyone had to stop up on offense and defense and especially us as running backs and set the tone for the game," Morris said.

The Patriots amassed 126 rushing yards and averaged 4.5 yards per rush.

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Matt Cassel failed to lead the Patriots on a touchdown drive during the preseason, but yesterday when it mattered more, Cassel did exactly that, leading the Patriots on an improbable 10-play, 98-yard drive that he capped off with a 10-yard pass to Randy Moss which gave New England a 7-0 lead.

Cassel, a seventh round draft choice out of Southern California in 2005, replaced All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady after Brady injured his left knee with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter when he was tackled by blitzing Kansas City safety Bernard Pollard.

Earlier in the drive, Cassel completed a 51-yard pass to Moss on 3rd and 11 from the Pats' own one-yard line which kept the drive alive.

That reception gave Moss 13,014 career receiving yards and moved him ahead of Jimmy Smith for 13th most in NFL history. Moss's touchdown reception was 126th TD of career which ties him with Jim Brown for eighth on the NFL all-time touchdown list.

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- New England place-kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who missed practice on Thursday due to a non-injury related incident, has looked sharp in his pre-game field goal session. He has made several field goals in a row from beyond 40 yards, including one from 51-yards out.

He nailed a career-long 53-yard field goal against Tampa Bay in the Pats' second preseason game. Gostkowski set an NFL single-season record with 74 successful PAT kicks in 2007 and his 83.3 percent accuracy rate (50-of-60) is the highest in Patriots history.

Tampa -- The Patriots depleted secondary simply could not stop Tampa Bay's offense.

Led by backup quarterbacks Brian Griese and Luke McCown, Tampa Bay went on scoring drives of 80, 59, and 86 yards to take a 17-3 lead at halftime.

Griese was 9-for-10 for 44 yard and McCown was 6-for-7 for 76 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Running back Michael Bennett rushed eight times for 57 yards in the first half for Tampa Bay.

Matt Cassel was much better in the first half than his 1-for-4, 1 interception performance in the first preseason game. He was 6-for-8 for 57 yards with no interceptions. Randy Moss has two catches for 25 yards and Wes Welker has three catches for 25 yards.

Stephen Gostkowski booted a 53 yard field goal to end the first half.

Tampa -- New England won the coin toss and deffered until the second half, resulting in Tampa Bay getting the ball first.

Tampa Bay made New England pay for that decision.

Backup quarterback Brian Griese seemed like he could do no wrong against the Patriots' depleted secondary. He went 8-for-8 for 39 yards on the Bucs 17-play, 80-yard opening drive that Earnest Graham capped off with a one yard touchdown run through the heart of the Patriots defense, giving Tampa Bay the early 7-0 lead.

New England went three-and-out on its first possession.

Tampa -- Patriots second-year defensive back Brandon Meriweather went down with an apparent leg injury with 6:55 remaining in the first quarter.

Meriweather tried to limp off the field on his own power but ultimately he had to be helped off the field by two trainers.

If the injury is serious it could be a big blow to an already depleted secondary. Defensive backs Jason Webster, Jonathan Wilhite, Lewis Sanders, James Sanders, and Rodney Harrison were not out on the field for warmups before the game started.

Tampa -- It's only preseason so there is no surprise that there have been several lineup changes for tonight's game.

For the Patriots, quarterback Matt Cassel will start in place of Tom Brady, who did not make the trip to Tampa because of a sore foot.

The Patriots offensive line is a bit banged up as well. At left tackle, Wesley Britt will start for Matt light. At right guard, Billy Yates will start in place of Stephen Neal.

On defense, Pierre Woods starts at outside linebacker in place of Adalius Thomas and inside linebacker Jerod Mayo will start in place of Victor Hobson.

At strong safety, Brandon Meriweather starts in place of Rodney Harrison and Antwain Spann will star in place of James Sanders.

For the Bucs, Brian Griese will start at quarterback for Jeff Garcia, wide receiver Antonio Bryant starts in place of Joey Galloway, and fullback Byron Storer will start in place of B.J. Askew.

TAMPA -- Welcome to Raymond James Stadium where the New England Patriots visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tonight at 8 o'clock for their second preseason game.

New England is coming of a disappointing 16-15 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. For the second straight game, all-star quarterback Tom Brady, the reigning Most Valuable Player of the NFL, will not play.

Brady did not even make the trip. He is nursing a sore foot, which means the snaps once again will be divided between Matt Cassel, Matt Gutierrez, and rookie Kevin O'Connell. All three will be looking to improve on last week's performance, especially Cassel, who was a mere 1-for-4 for with an interception.

Tampa Bay is coming off a 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins. New England coach Bill Belichick said last week that this will be a good conditioning test for the Patriots. It's currently 85 degrees in Tampa.

Due to weather, this morning's team walkthrough has been moved indoors, canceling the public availability.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the team is scheduled to practice from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the training camp practice fields. Each of those practices are open to the public (weather permitting).

As always, the Patriots advise anyone planning on attending the training camp practice sessions to check www.patriots.com for up-to-the-minute schedule information. Fans may also call the fan information hotline by dialing 508.549.0001.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick just had a conference call with the media today.

Among the topics he talked about were getting ready for their next preseason game against Tampa Bay, the impressive performance of place-kicker Stephen Gostkowski, the NFL new coin toss rule, the Brett Farve trade, and the hard running of newly acquired running back Lamont Jordan.

Here are a few highlights.

Talking about Gostkowski, who was 3-for-3 on field goals (39, 44, and 40), Belichick said: "I thought he kicked well. There wasn't much more that he could do really. He made the field goals, he had two touchbacks. He did a pretty good job. There were a couple of little things that he could have done a little bit better but I thought he did a real nice job."

Talking about winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, Belichick said that the Patriots will do that every time they win the toss.

"I think it will be a regular occurrence and it will probably be what most teams [do]," Belichick said. "The college coaches that I've talked to have pretty much all told me that everybody always defers when they win the toss in college, 100 percent of the time. My guess would be that it will approach that in the NFL as well, in time. Whether it does right off the bat, or not, I don't know. It would take some type of extreme conditions or an unusual experience to not do that if you win the toss. That's our approach going into it. We'll defer every time."

Speaking about the Farve trade, Belichick said: "He's a great player, one of the best players in the last couple of decades. He's got just about every record you could have at the position he plays. His play just speaks for itself. It's always a big challenge playing the Jets, even more so now. They have a lot of talent and I'm sure we'll have our hands full every time we face them. But right now, that's not at the forefront of our concerns. We have a lot of other things before we would come to that and that's what we'll focus on. But he's a great player. There is no question about that."

Speaking about Jordan, who rushed a game-high 19 times for a game-high 76 yards and a touchdown, Belichick said: "Lamont did some really good things,,,He shed some tackles, made some yards on the ground and made a few plays. It was good to see him out there running the ball and he'll certainly get some more opportunities."

Press release from the Patriots.

FOXBORO – The New England Patriots have announced ticket prices for the 2008 season. The new ticket prices reflect the team’s first ticket price increase since the end of the 2004 season.

Patriots season ticket holders will be sent renewal invoices starting next week. All season ticket renewal invoices must be returned by March 31.

Once renewals are processed, any available season tickets will be made available to those on the season ticket waiting list. Additionally, a limited number of tickets have been reserved for a general, individual-game sale this spring.

For more information on season ticket renewals, waiting list applications or general information on the team, please visit patriots.com.

2008 PATRIOTS TICKET PRICES
Seat Location Price
Lower Level Sideline $169
Lower Level Corner/End Zone $117
Mezzanine Level Corner/End Zone $117
Upper Level Sideline $89
Upper Level Corner (Rows 1-7) $89
Upper Level Corner (Rows 8-26) $65
Standing Room $49

The Patriots’ eight regular-season home opponents have been determined. New England will host each of its three AFC East division rivals (Buffalo, Miami and the New York Jets) in addition to a pair of teams from the AFC West (Denver and Kansas City), two teams from the NFC West (Arizona and St. Louis) and the 2007 AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Randy Moss’s first visit to the Super Bowl as a player ended in a loss.

The 10-year NFL veteran and Future Hall of Famer was looking forward to having a big game on the biggest stage – Super Bowl XLII – but Moss was limited to five catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.

Those are solid numbers, but they weren’t enough to beat the Giants last night.

Moss said that the Giants were more focused than the Patriots and that’s why they won.

“The Giants just had a better game plan,” Moss said. “They played heads up football. They came ready to play for four quarters, 60 minutes. My hats off to the Giants.
“I think their intensity from the beginning snap to the end of the game was really higher than ours. We just couldn’t meet that intensity.

Moss said that he was surprised by the Patriots lack of intensity because of all the hard work they put in over the last two weeks to prepare for the game.

“When things like that happen, the only thing you can do is lick your wounds and try to come back at it next year.”

Moss caught a six yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 2:45 remaining in the game to put the Patriots up, 14-10, but the Giants came storming back to steal the victory.

“It was just a simple fade,” Moss said. “It was a crucial situation in the game. It was late in the game and I really thought that play really gave us the momentum to take us up. But on their side of the ball, offense and defense, they had the intensity for four quarters, so that is really what hurt.”

Moss said that he isn’t surprised that most people across the country wanted the Patriots to lose in the Super Bowl.

“There was a lot of hype and I think that a lot of people got tired of talking about us and I could really sense that,” Moss said. “I am not taking anything from the New York Giants and coach Tom Coughlin. Like I said, they had a great game plan, they executed it, I think that they wanted to get after Tommy (Brady) and they did do that.”

Moss said that he is going to spend the offseason with his family.

“I have a family, I got kids to love and raise,” Moss said. “I am going to be with my kids probably till May or June. I am not thinking of anything football right now so I can just relax my mind, my body and love my kids.”

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Patriots were hoping to join elite company and become the first team in NFL history to complete a perfect 19-0 season, but the Giants turned that dream into a nightmare by beating the Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII.

“We were certainly disappointed,” Patriots defensive back Rodney Harrison said. “We worked hard to stay focused and tried to win one game at a time, 18 times. We have been through so much. I give all of our guys in that locker room a lot of credit, they have a lot of heart. We just came up short."

“There are no words to mend what we feel at this point,” Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “That’s true. There isn’t too much someone can say. You could say it’s just a game or whatever. At the end of the day, we had an opportunity to be special and we couldn’t do it. It’s tough that it ended this way.”

The Patriots broke a lot of records this season, but it ended in disappointment.

“Anytime you lose, it is a long offseason,” Harrison said. “Our goal was to come in and win the ballgame. They just made more plays than us…It’s extremely disappointing.”

“It was a great journey, and the bond that we have will always be there,” Patriots linebacker Junior Seau said. “We came up short, we understand that. The game of football comes down to executing and making plays and when opportunities came we didn’t make them and New York did.”

Teams leading at halftime in Super Bowls are 32-7 so history is on the Pats side to go 19-0.

Patriots offensive lineman Russ Hochstein replaced right guard Stephen Neal after he injured his knee in the second quarter.

The Giants continue to pressure and sack Brady with the Patriots offensive linemen banged up.

The two possessions (one by each team) is the fewest in the history of the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady just ran out onto the field and jumped up and down a few times.

He was not running with a limp.

His high-ankle sprain doesn't look like it will be a problem.

PHOENIX -- New England coach Bill Belichick is the only coach in the history of the NFL to win three Super Bowls in a four-year span (2001, 2003, 2004).

He has a 15-3 (.833 winning percentage) winning percentage as the Patriots head coach in the playoffs which includes three Super Bowl victories.

He has a 100-28 record (.781 winning percentage) as the Patriots head coach since 2001. He’s coached in a lot of big games, but he said earlier today that Sunday’s Super Bowl will be the biggest game of his coaching career.

“I think it is the biggest game of all for our football team because it’s the next game,” said Belichick, who is hoping to become the first coach in NFL history to lead a team to a 19-0 record.

“It’s the next game and it is the Super Bowl. It is for the championship so I can’t think of a bigger game than that. We are here and that is what we are here for. We have worked all year for this game. We are happy to be a participant in it and it is a privilege to be in it. Of course it is a big game – it’s a huge game.”

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl

PHOENIX -- Bill Belichick is not concerned about star quarterback Tom Brady’s high-ankle sprain.

When asked if he was worried about Brady’s ankle at his morning press conference, Belichick said, “No. Tom Brady is one of the most consistent, well prepared, dependable and steady players I have ever coached.”

According to the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Pompei, the designated pool reporter, Brady wasn’t limping noticeably and his ankle wasn’t taped during practice at Arizona State in nearby Tempe on Wednesday and Thursday. On Monday, Brady was limping and his ankle was taped.

Brady said yesterday that his ankle is fine.

“I don’t think it’s a problem going into the game,” Brady said. “I don’t think the ankle is truly a problem.”

PHOENIX -- Bill Belichick coached for the New York Giants for 12 years and he and he won two Super Bowls with them as their defensive coordinator (1986 and 1990).

As much respect as he has for the Giants organization, Belichick said that there is no way he is going to rout for them on Sunday.

“When I was with the Giants, the fans were very supportive and they still are; they are great fans,” Belichick said. “I have all the respect in the world for the Giants fans, the Giants organization and their football team. I am on the other side of the field this week so there is no way I am pulling for them.

“Those 12 years were great there and I appreciate everything that happened during those 12 years with the Giants; from the organization to the players, team, fans and community. But, that being said, I have moved on and I know they still love their team and they should. I love our fans and the support we have received in New England and I am proud to be a New England Patriot. We are going to go out and do our best against the Giants on Sunday.”

PHOENIX -- Everyone has a role to play on Bill Belichick's team, he says.

That role sometimes changes week-to-week depending on matchups.

"I will put it this way: I think you try to do what is best for your football team, and best for each individual player," Belichick said. "That is not necessarily the same each week and it is not the same for each player and it is not the same in different situations. It aries and you have to kind of take it how it comes, and in the end do what you think is best for all the parties involved.

"The team is always number one. Whatever that is, that is what I will do. Whatever I feel is best for our football team, that is the decision I will make. Whether it is a game day decision, a personnel decision, a personal meeting with a player, a strategic move, a play to call or whatever. My priority is always to do what is best for this football team. That drives everything I do for the New England Patriots and whatever style it comes in -- that could be part of it too."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- All three of New England’s Super Bowl victories this decade have been decided by a field goal.

Four of the Patriots games this season have been decided by four points or less. Patriots veteran safety Rodney Harrison said that the Patriots are able to win close games because they have veteran leaders who know what to do during crunch time.

“We practice a lot of situational football,” Harrison said. “Bill wants smart, tough guys that can play well under pressure, and that’s what I think we have. We have a bunch of veteran guys. They say we’re old. They say we can’t play defense but we’re fourth overall in scoring defense. We’re 18-0 but none of that matters. It’s all about what we do and how we execute on Sunday and that’s what it comes down too.”

Harrison said that it’s good to have fast players on defense like the Giants do, but being fast doesn’t always make a player a better defender.

“The common theme is speed, speed, speed, but if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re going to get there a lot faster but you’re going to be in the wrong spot,” Harrison said. “I think our guys are veteran players that are smart. That play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. We’re well prepared and we play extremely hard.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Patriots Pro Bowl wide receiver Randy Moss has dreamt several times that not only do the Patriots win the Super Bowl on Sunday, but that he also has a big game.

“I’m daydreaming every day, all day,” Moss said. “I’ve already [dreamed that I] played three games in the Super Bowl and all three of them have victories with me having a big game…That’s just me daydreaming and that’s just common.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress saying earlier this week that the Giants were going to beat the Patriots, 23-17, in the Super Bowl on Sunday, Patriots safety Rodney Harrison went on record today with a little guarantee of his own.

"I guarantee you we are not going to play as poorly as last time...," Harrison said of the Patriots defense, which allowed Giants quarteback Eli Manning to throw for four touchdowns.

The Giants scored 35 points in that game.

“We played our worst defensive game of the year,” Harrison said. “We gave up 35 points. We’re fourth in the league in points given up and we gave up 35 points which is very uncharacteristic of our defense and we played terrible…I guarantee you we are not going to play as poorly as last time but we walked away with a win and everyone is chomping at [us giving up 35 points]. A win is a win and we're not concerned about what happened in the last game of the season."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- There is a lot of public interest in Randy Moss and for good reason.

The Patriots Pro Bowl wide receiver set an NFL record for touchdown receptions in a season, 23, in helping lead the Patriots to a perfect regular season record, 16-0.

As much as Moss enjoys being in the spotlight on the field, he said that he hates being in the public eye off of the field.

“It’s hard knowing that my kids don’t really understand when people come up nagging me for autographs, bustle me and talk trash to me because I won’t sign an autograph because I’m trying to be daddy that day,” Moss said. “It’s kind of hard because there’s a certain image that you have to portray and as you all know over my 10 year career, that’s not me.

“I live for the moment and I live for my family so as far as being in the spotlight and being a celebrity and stuff like that, I still don’t see myself like that. Other people do but I try not to let them see me that way. I hate it.”

Moss said that when he does go out in public, often times he wears a sweatshirt with a hood and he pulls the hood up over his head so people don’t know that it’s him. He said that he stays secluded mostly at home, but once and awhile he does venture out with his family.

“I like spending time with my family. I like going out. I like going to amusement parks and I like going to movies and Chuckie Cheese and stuff like that,” Moss said.

Giants receiver Plaxico Burress predicted earlier this week that the Giants would beat the Patriots, 23-17, in the Super Bowl.

Earlier today he said that he stood by those comments.

"What I said is what I said," Burress said. "I believe in my guys just as much as they believe in me. It is very evident. They stand by me and what I say, and we believe in each other. I really don't consider us to be teammates or a team. It's more like a brotherhood. That is how close we are as a team. We have so much respect for each other, and guys go up and beyond to do things to get the job done. We play hard for each other. I think that has shown in some of the games we've won and the way that we've won them. There is no quit in this football team. We don't know what that word means."

No team has held the Patriots to 17 points this season. The Patriots averaged an NFL-best 411.2 yards per game and 36.8 points per game during the regular season.

"I'm not taking anything away from what they've done in the conference or what they've done in the NFL records," Burress said. "Tom Brady is a great quarterback and is the NFL MVP and a three-time Super Bowl winner. Randy [Moss] set a record, and they have two guys with over 100 receptions. I'm not taking taking anything from those guys. The numbers don't lie of what they've done. It's going to be tough matchup for us. I know we can't stop them, but for us to win the game we have to control the ball, be effective on third down, and keep them off of the field."

Burress, who said that the score 23-17 was the first score that popped into his head, said that none of his teammates are upset by his prediction.

"I don't think anyone is upset," Burress said. "They don't have to say anything to me. They know I'm going to go out and performa at a high level, and I think we expect that of each other. We all expect for us to play hard. There is nothing else to be said. The rest of the talking is going to be done on the football field."

Randy Moss was shocked to find out that Josh McDaniels, who is 32-years-old, was the Patriots offensive coordinator when he first met him.

"When I first got to Massachusetts, I flew in to take my physical and Josh picked me up at the airport. He told me he was the offensive coordinator and that he calls the plays, and he told me his age. I was kind of overwhelmed because we are in the same age bracket, and I really didn't know what to think to be honest with you.

"Being with the New England Patriots, I figured he must know something. After being here during mini camp and training camp and seeing how the offense was made and designed, I thought he was probably if not the best, one of the best offensive coordinators in the League when it comes to scheming, calling plays and making adjustments.

"Once I heard he might be up for a head coaching job I went to him and said, `Dude, you didn't tell me what's going on.' I have a lot of respect for Josh and I don't think age plays a factor at all with coaches in the NFL. The good thing about it is he's young and his upside is very high. The bad side of it is that I don't know how long he'll be a Patriots coach."

Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs respects guys like Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith who guaranteed a victory over the Patriots, and Giants receiver Plaxico Burress who predicted that the Giants would beat the Patriots, 23-17, in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

“I always give my hats off to a guy like Anthony Smith or Plaxico for the confidence that they have in saying that because it speaks volumes. It speaks volumes in the confidence that you have coming into a game of this magnitude.”

There has been a lot of talk about Laurence Maroney’s running style and he doesn't like it.

He runs upright instead of getting low to the ground like most NFL running backs, but Maroney believes that just because he runs with a different style, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

After all, he’s been running that way his whole life and has been very successful at it.

He was selected the St. Louis Player of the Year while attending Normandy High School where he was a four-time All-Conference selection and rushed for 4,808 yards in his career with 56 touchdowns.

At the University of Minnesota, Maroney became one of only three players in Big 10 history to rush for over 1,000 yards in each of their first three seasons (Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, and Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State). He finished his three-year college career ranking second on Minnesota’s all-time career list with 3,933 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns.

And he’s rushed for 550 yards and six touchdowns over his last five games.

Those numbers are outstanding so Maroney doesn’t plan on adjusting his running style.

“Well you know, a lot of people always talk about adjusting your style, but you know, I continue to do what I do,” Maroney said. “That’s what got me here. I really don’t try to change too much of nothing, you know, I just go out there and have fun. I really don’t know what my style is.
Some games it may be speed and some games it may be power. It just depends on the atmosphere.

Maroney said that showing off his talent in the Patriots two playoff games in front of a national audience meant a lot to him. Maroney had 122 rushing yards and a touchdown in both of the Patriots playoff games.

“To be able to go out there and run the clock out on them having the confidence in me to run the clock out means a lot,” Maroney said. “…You know, one of the things I wanted to do was go out there and take advantage of the opportunities they give me and make them believe that we can run the ball when we need to.”

Not only can Maroney move the chains running the ball, but he also doesn’t turn the ball over either. In fact, none of the Patriot running backs or wide receivers have fumbled the ball resulting in a turnover.

“It is a good bit of us, but a lot more of Bill [Belichick],” Maroney said for the reason why the Patriots don’t fumble. “Every day he tells us, `protect the ball. Protect the ball.’ We don’t give teams turnovers…We work hard on ball protection every day.”

So how does Maroney plan on attacking the Giants on Sunday?

“Downhill,” Maroney said. “You know, when you have a physical defense like they do, you go down hill and hopefully they get tired of tackling.”

Maroney said that he will attack the Giants both inside and outside.

“It doesn’t matter; wherever the hole is at,” Maroney said. “I can go inside or outside. It really doesn’t matter.”

Maroney said that he is looking forward to Sunday.

Donte Stallworth was so upset when he heard that Randy Moss said that Moss, not Stallworth, was the fastest wide receiver that the Patriots have, that he interrupted Moss’s Media Day session to see if Moss would say it again.

“Who is the fastest receiver on the team,” Stallworth yelled out.

“I say the quickest receiver on the Patriots team is Randy Moss,” Moss said.

“Whose the strongest receiver,” Stallworth asked.

“The strongest receiver on our team is Bam Childress or Randy Moss,” Moss said. “Next question. Get out of here Stallworth.”

Stallworth then left Moss alone.

Throughout his entire career, Giants quarterback Eli Manning has been perceived by many NFL experts as a bust.

He grew up in the long shadows of his father Archie and his older brother Peyton and he hasn’t lived up to many of the expectations that were put on him after he refused to play for San Diego, who drafted him with the first pick in the 2004 Draft, and was then traded to New York for Philip Rivers (the fourth pick), a 2004 third-round pick, and a 2005 first and fifth round selection.

Manning was winless in the playoffs prior to this season. But he has been nearly flawless this postseason.

After throwing 20 interceptions in the regular season, Manning has yet to throw a pick in the postseason and he has completed 62.4 percent of his passes along with four TDs and 599 yards for a 99.1 quarterback rating.

The Patriots certainly respect his turnaround.

“He’s playing very well,” Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel said. “Starting from the last game we played them, he’s just been outstanding. We’ve got to go out there and rattle him a little bit so he can’t be at the best that he’s at right now.”

“He is playing great,” Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel said. “…This is a young guy that still has a lot to prove. He has been playing under the shadows of his brother for a lot of years, and now it is his time and we are going to have to play well.”

“I think he’s a guy that doesn’t get rattled easily,” Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “He’s an elite player. He’s shown that he can lead his football team…From a mental standpoint, I think he’s on the right page. I think he has the right mentality to play in the league, especially at that position.

When the Patriots played the Giants in the final game of the regular season, Manning torched New England’s secondary for 251 yards and four touchdowns. He only threw 10 incompletions (22-for-32, 68.8 percent) in that game.

"Eli Manning is a guy that if given the opportunity, he can put points on the board," Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said.

Maybe it’s the perfect season.

Maybe it’s for future Hall of Famers like Randy Moss and Junior Seau who have never won a Super Bowl.

Whatever the case, the Patriots are going for their fourth Super Bowl title in the last seven years and many of them are just as excited to play in this one as they were in all of the other ones.

“It doesn’t get old,” Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said. “Every time we come it is almost like our post-game party; we plan it like we might not be here ever again. It is very special. Actually each trip is sort of like a different child. Those of us who are blessed to have more than one child know that each child is special and unique. This trip is pretty special coming here 18-0 and doing something that we wouldn’t have believed would be possible in today’s modern age. It is pretty special.”

“It’s fun to be back,” Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel said. “It’s fun to enjoy this and the excitement around this and we can’t lose the sight of football on Sunday.”

“You cherish the moments and enjoy the festivities because this is one of the biggest events in the world,” Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel said.

“I just think that there’s a lot of excitement around this game,” Vrabel said. “They wouldn’t call it `Super’ if it wasn’t the best.”

One remarkable stat that has gone overlooked this season is the fact that none of the Patriot receivers have lost a fumble this season.

Patriots receiver Wes Welker said that the Patriots focus on the importance of ball security every day in practice because one turnover can mean the difference between a win and a loss.

“I think it’s basically being conscience of it and making sure that we do take care of the football and that’s goal number one,” said Welker, who fumbled twice against Dallas but both times the Patriots recovered the ball. “We can’t turn the ball over. We just have to make sure that we do that on a weekly basis. It’s something that we focus on and concentrate on.”

No team in the league had fewer turnovers than the Patriots in the regular season – 15 (nine interceptions and six fumbles). Their 15 turnovers were the fifth fewest in franchise history.

New England coach Bill Belichick said that one of the reasons why the Patriots have been so successful running the ball lately is because of the exceptional downfield blocking by the Patriots’ wide receivers.

“I think that our receivers have done a good job all year of blocking, probably the best that I’ve had since I’ve been with the Patriots,” Belichick said. “…I think these guys have blocked well all year. They’ve been an important part of the running game. You can’t have good runs unless the secondary people get blocked or screened off by the receivers…It’s been an important part of our running game. It’s been an important part of some of our big runs along with Laurence [Maroney], and Sammy [Morris] and Kevin [Faulk’s] running.”

Maroney has rushed for 122 yards in both of the Patriots postseason games, and he has amassed 550 yards six rushing touchdowns in his last five games.

“I think all of our receivers have done an excellent job of getting into the secondary or getting on some of the guys that are tight to the line of scrimmage,” Patriots offensive lineman Matt Light said. “[They have thrown] some key blocks to free the running backs to get to the second level. As a lineman, when you have a guy like Wes [Welker], who is not the biggest receiver we’ve had around here, flies around and throws his body in front of people. That’s a lot of fun. Our crew has done a great job all season.”

Welker said that the receivers take a lot of pride in blocking.

Even though the Patriots are 18-0 and are the favorites to win the Super Bowl, they don’t feel invincible.

“Even ourselves – within this team – we don’t consider ourselves invincible,” Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. “The minute you consider yourself invincible, you are letting your guard down. If you think you can’t be beat, that’s the wrong thought to have.

“I think you have to respect your opponent, first and foremost, and if you don’t then you will be beat. The way you do win football games is by doing the things that help you win. It’s preparing during the week and playing good football. If you don’t recognize that and if you don’t do that, it’s possible that we can be beat.”

“We are taking it one game at a time,” defensive end Richard Seymour said. “We understand what the Giants present and we are trying to win this one game and we’ll let you guys decide our place in history.”

Patriots Pro Bowl wide receiver Randy Moss only had a combined two catches for 32 yards in the Patriots two playoff games, but that doesn’t mean quarterback Tom Brady hasn’t been looking for him.

“He is always a part of the plan and a lot of our offense is based around what the defense is giving us,” Brady said. “If they dictate that they are going to try to take one person out of the game, they’ll do that. I thought San Diego played extremely well. I think Jacksonville did a good job. I am sure he was a big point of emphasis. I am sure the Giants will be a big point of emphasis, Randy will be a big point of emphasis for the Giants as well.

“I never lose track of him. I know that he works extremely hard to get open and I know that he is in the right place and he wants the ball. We have to find ways to get him the ball because he is an important part of this offense. If they choose to, as teams have done throughout the season, to put double coverage on him, then you have to find other places to throw and you have to hand the ball off.

“If they come out of the game and they feel like they stopped one player but the team won, I hope that, if that happens, great. But the goal is to win the game and they’re doing what they think is best to win and so are we. It is just a fine line. You don’t want to just throw it to somebody if he is covered with two or three guys. You have to find other guys to throw the ball to and we certainly have that luxury.”

With a perfect season and Super Bowl XLII on the line, New England coach Bill Belichick said that Sunday's game against the Giants will be the most important one of his career.

"Of course it is an important game," Belichick said. "It’s the world championship. It’s the Super Bowl. I’ve coached in other ones. Those were important, too. At that time they seemed like the most important. I think whichever one you are in is the most important.

"Maybe at some time there will be a time to reflect and look back on it, but right now there is no game more important than this game against the New York Giants and I’m going to put everything I have in it and try to do the best I can to do my job and help prepare the team. I am sure the players will do the same thing. At this point in time, which is where we are, it’s number one on the hit parade.”

This is New England's fourth trip to a Super Bowl in the last seven years. The Patriots are 3-0 in those trips but coach Bill Belichick said that the experience that they have in Super Bowls won't necessarily help them on Sunday.

"It’s the trip you want to be on, I’ll say that," Belichick said. "I don’t think it’s easier because you know you are going up against a great football team. The New York Giants are playing their best football of the year right now and we had a tremendous game with them a month ago. We know how hard it’s going to be and how good they are, how well prepared they are, and how hard they work and how talented they are.

"That’s not easy at all. At the same time, you spend all season working to get to this point -- the mini-camps, the offseason programs, all the two-a-days in training camp, the preseason games, the grueling 16-game regular season schedule in the National Football League, the playoff games, the AFC championship -- it’s all done to be at this game and to be here this week.

"We are proud to be here. We are excited to be here, but at the same time, we know there is a lot of work left to do. We know we are playing a great football team in the New York Giants and we know how hard that will be and how well we will have to play in order to be competitive on Sunday. That’s the balance, but we are glad we are here and glad we have an opportunity to meet that challenge.”

The Patriots beat the Giants, 38-35, in the Week 17 to preserve their undefeated regular season. The Giants have won 10 consecutive road games.

The perception is that often times New England coach Bill Belichick appears frustrated when he has to talk to the media. But he says that’s not the case.

When asked Saturday if he doesn’t like talking to the media, Belichick said, “Not at all. I think you have a job to do and you are our connection between our football team, our fans, and the people who have an interest in the game. I respect the job that you do and hope that you respect the job I do.

“I understand that sometimes I can’t give you everything that you are looking for, but I do know that this is the conduit of information from the team to the fans and the fans are what drive the game. I’m all for it. Nobody is more in favor of this game than I am.”

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- San Diego coach Norv Turner said that New England "franchise" defensive back Asante Samuel's interception of a Philip Rivers pass intended for Chris Chambers in the second quarter was the difference in yesterday's 21-12 New England AFC Championship victory.

"[Rivers] tried to get the ball to Chris and Samuel made a great play," Turner said. "Chris had his hands on the ball, Samuel went up and got it and when you look back, that's probably the difference in the game. They end up getting a touchdown off a short field and that was a big part of it."

Samuel returned the pick 10 yards to the Chargers 24 yard line and Tom Brady threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney two plays later to put the Pats ahead, 14-6. It was Samuel's fifth interception in the postseason of his career and his fifth interception in his last seven postseason games dating back to the 2005 season.

"I think it was one of the big plays of the game," Samuel said. "The offense was struggling a little bit so to get the ball for them to get it in foreign territory and to get the touchdown was good. It was a momentum-changer and we won.

"It was a team effort and we played good as a defense and we won. We're happy about it. One more game man. One more game."

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – The New England Patriots will be going for their fourth Super Bowl title since 2001 in Arizona at Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3.

What does that mean to the Patriots?

“It’s exciting,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “You know, there’s been so much energy expended each week with the expectations and the pressure our coach puts on us. [I’m] glad we have the week off here, regroup a little bit and try to elevate our game for one last performance…Every time I’ve played in the Super Bowl, I’ve cherished that and it never gets old and standing up there and accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy for the team for the fourth time is pretty outstanding.”

“I’m excited to be going,” said rookie cornerback Brandon Meriweather, who has never lost a meaningful game in the NFL (18-0). “You know, to get a chance to live out a dream. Everybody who plays football dreams of making it to the Super Bowl.”

This will be the Patriots sixth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, joining three other teams (Dallas, Denver, and Pittsburgh) with at least six Super Bowl appearances. The Patriots six super Bowl appearances, tied with Denver and Pittsburgh, trail only Dallas’s eight berths for most all-time. The Patriots are 3-2 in their previous five Super Bowls.

The Patriots lost in the AFC Championship game last season to Indianapolis.

“All we kept stressing to one another is not this year,” Patriots defensive back Ellis Hobbs said. “Not this year. Especially for me, my college years weren’t the best. I’ve been a loser for a long time on a lot of losing teams. Just to be a part of this, and a significant part, and with all the things that have gone on this season, on the field, off the field, whatever. This is just a culmination of all of it and it just feels great.”

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – Randy Moss had been in the NFL for 10 years and has been one of the best wide receivers in NFL history over that time.
He caught a record-setting 23 touchdowns during the regular season and had 98 catches for 1,493 yards but for the second straight postseason game, Moss only had one catch, this time for 18 yards.

His teammates said yesterday that Jacksonville and San Diego both limited Moss's production by double and triple teaming him and that his sub-par two catches for 32 yards this postseason has nothing to do with his off-the-field distraction – Ft. Lauderdale resident and longtime friend Rachelle Washington accusing him of battery and demanding from him a “six-figure” settlement.

San Diego’s overwhelming coverage on Moss forced Tom Brady to go elsewhere with the football for most of the game.

Teammate Rodney Harrison said that the Chargers needed to double and triple-team Moss because if they didn’t then Moss would have burned them.

“At any point in time Randy Moss can go down there and beat you,” Harrison said. “You have to put two guys on him. If you stick him with one guy, I don’t think there is a corner in the league [that can stop him one-on-one]. You’re proud of a guy like that because he’s 30-years-old and he works extremely hard.”

In addition to his catch, Moss had a 14 yard run on a reverse.

“Seeing him run that got everybody else motivated,” fellow receiver Jabar Gaffney said.

Moss has never been to a Super Bowl. His teammates couldn’t be happier to help him reach the Super Bowl this year.

“I’m real happy for him,” Gaffney said. “He got in this terrible situation and we all have his back. We know what kind of [person he is]. There are always two sides to the story so for him to shake that off and he came out here and got ‘W,’ it’s real good…He’s been focused. He’s been himself all week. He just shut that off.”

“When I walked into this locker room I looked at Randy and just told him how happy and how proud I was for him because he’s worked his butt off,” Harrison said. “He’s gone through a lot of criticism. He’s gone through a lot of scrutiny since he’s gotten here, in a lot of public opinion good, bad, and different, and for him to stand tall week after week to stay focused on what Bill [Belichick] has been preaching, it just shows his maturity as a person, as a player and I’m happy for him.”

“He’s a good person and he’s been a great football player for us,” Harrison added.

Journal photo/ Bob Breidenbach
Patriots' wide receiver Randy Moss talks to the media today at Gillette Stadium about a restraining order filed against him.

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- It was reported this morning that Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss had a "temporary injuction for protection against dating violence" filed against him in Florida.

Moss today denied any wrongdoing. He called the allegations "false" and accused the accuser of trying to get more than $100,000 from him.

"For someone to make a false claim about me, I’m kind of furious,” Moss said. “It kind of hurts me deep inside for someone to do something like that because you know I’ve always said time and time again , `I’m going to stand up for what’s right.’ If I’m right, I’m right. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, and that’s why you have your attorneys and your friends. When you’re wrong, somebody can tell you you’re wrong.

“My situation is where I felt that I did nothing wrong. It was an accident. Whatever happened, it was an accident. I wish I could sit here and tell ya’ll really what happened but there is a lawsuit or whatever coming against me. I can’t really explain or tell ya’ll what’s going on. All I want to say is, I’m going to continue to play football. I think that, last Friday this man wanted to come out with it just to try to distract the team and distract me.”

The report states that no criminal charges have been filed against him, and that a hearing is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 28.

Moss said that the accuser threatened him.

“You better do this or else! You better do this or else,” Moss said the accuser said. “Well, I thought it was bad because now you’re threatening me so I brought it to coach [Belichick] and said, `look coach I’m being threatened to do something that I have no idea of what I need to be doing.’ Well, I was advised to just focus on playing football, and then I’ll handle this once the season is over, so whenever the season is over, I plan on sitting down on really getting to the bottom of this. Right now I have a job to do.”

Moss said that he could not get into further detail about the complaint.

“I don’t want to get in trouble for anything I might say that I’m not supposed to say when it comes to an attorney and a client,” Moss said. “There are a lot of things that I want to sit here and tell you guys to prove my innocence but for the fact that there is an investigation going on, [I can’t.]”

Here's the link to the Broward County Clerk of Courts web site, and no further date is given for this case. WDBO, which first reported the story, has posted a copy of the order. -- shalise manza young

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – Wes Welker made his first playoff appearance a memorable one.

Welker led the Patriot receivers with a game-high nine catches for 54 yards and a touchdown.

His touchdown catch came on a trick play. On a first-and-goal from the Jacksonville six, Tom Brady jumped and raised his empty right arm in the air, making it appear as if Faulk had taken a direct snap.

Brady was hiding the ball in his left hand. Then, he switched to his right and found Welker in the back of the end zone which gave the Patriots the lead for good, 21-14, at 8:49 of the third quarter.

“I don’t know what you would call it but it was a play we felt we could take advantage of because of the aggressive plays by their safeties,” Welker said. “I was able to get behind them and Tom Brady was able to find me for the score.”

Welker said that the atmosphere of his first playoff game was intense.

“There was more intensity out there and focus and it took a couple of series to settle down,” said Welker, who did not get his first catch until the second quarter. “In the end we were able to put our execution together and were able to come up with some plays.”

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – After having the biggest postseason game of his career – 22 carries, 122 yards, and a touchdown – Laurence Maroney tried to sneak out of the Patriots locker room before a mob of media members, like bees on honey, swarmed to him just before he reached the exit.

“I really don’t feel like talking,” Maroney said with a sigh.

Maroney didn’t want to talk about his huge game because he didn’t want to be in the spotlight.

Not with Tom Brady completing 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns for a 141.4 quarterback rating.

Not with the Patriots advancing to the AFC Championship game. Not with so many other of his teammates contributing in the 31-20 victory over the Jaguars.

“It’s about the Patriots winning, not about me,” Maroney said.

But he understood why there was a lot of interest in what he had just done. His performance ranks third on the Patriots all-time rushing list for postseason games. Only Curtis Martin (166 yards, Jan. 5, 1997 versus Pittsburgh) and Corey Dillon (144 yards, Jan. 16, 2005, versus Indianapolis) have bigger postseason rushing games than Maroney.

He gave most of the credit to his offensive linemen.

“I felt very comfortable today and the offensive line and receivers did a good job blocking once again downfield,” Maroney said. “I just tried to get into a rhythm and run hard.”

Because the Patriots were setting all kinds of scoring records by passing the ball while using the running game sparingly for most of the regular season, Maroney’s season was viewed by some as a disappointment. But when the weather got colder and the winds picked up, the Patriots called Maroney’s number and he has been productive.

“Sooner or later the running game had to kick in and when we did turn to it, I knew we had to be prepared,” Maroney said of the Pats running game. “We have been here and worked hard and knew we would finally get a chance to show the world that we do have some type of running game.”

Maroney closed out the regular season with 59 rushes for 306 yards and four touchdowns in his final three games of the season, averaging 102 yards per game.

“In our locker room, we know what he’s capable of,” running back Heath Evans said of Maroney.

“The way Laurence ran, the way the offensive line blocked, it just gave [us] confidence to go on and continue on running the ball,” fellow running back Kevin Faulk said.

“I thought Laurence ran well and our line blocked well,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. “We had some good holds.”

Maroney’s touchdown, a one-yard run that gave New England a 14-7 lead three seconds into the second quarter, was the first of his postseason career.

“Laurence has been great – he’s been playing good all season,” Brady said. “I don’t think he probably had all of the opportunities he would have hoped, but his role has been whatever he’s got and he’s been extremely productive. And the way we’ve thrown the ball with multiple receivers on the field, it puts a lot of stress on the defense.

“Any time you have Randy and Wes out there and Donte and Jabar all making plays; really, Laurence, thank God, lost it there for a little bit, but he was extremely productive tonight. He had some huge runs.”

Maroney elevated his game in the Patriots passing attack last night too. After only catching four passes for 116 yards in the regular season, Maroney caught two passes for 40 yards last night.

“Kevin is the one that’s known for catching screen passes so I was hoping to catch them sleeping,” Maroney said.

Mission accomplished.

“I think Laurence does a good job for us in the passing game, yeah,” Belichick said. “I think he’s done a good job for us and he’s certainly improved there in the two careers since he’s been here and he’s worked hard in all phases, blitz running, route running, spacing, catching, those kinds of things. And he’s worked hard and he’s done a good job and he’s improved dramatically in two years, no question.”

“It’s always great to have a strong running game,” Evans said. “For half the year Tom Brady was doing it all by himself with the receivers and during the most important time of the year
Maroney stepped up. That’s my praise to him, its good coaching and listening on his part. He ran hard and he has a lot of talent and I’m proud of him.”

Maroney is just happy that the Patriots advanced to the AFC Championship game.

“This is something that we practice all year for – to go to the big show,” Maroney said.

FOXBORO -- Once again, the Patriots are holding their practice inside the Dana-Farber Field House. They are in their shorts and shells.

Defensive back Antwain Spann and tight end Stephen Spach were not present for the media-access portion of the practice, which included stretching and warmup drills.

Running back Kyle Eckel (stomach), who was not present for the media-access portion of Tuesday's practice, is back on the field today.

FOXBORO -- The journey to Foxboro was an interesting one.

I left my house at about 9:00 a.m., after an hour of shoveling my driveway and my street so that my car could make it to a major road that had been plowed.

I took route 10 to 95 and neither road had been plowed very well. Most drivers were going 35-miles-per-hour or less. Traveling on route 95 in Rhode Island was much better than traveling on it in Massachusetts because 95 had been plowed in Rhode Island but it had not been plowed in Massachusetts.

You couldn’t even see the pavement in Massachusetts for much of the drive. Trucks did plow the middle lane a few miles before 495. Traffic did not back up until a half-a-mile before Route 1, and Route 1 was only two lanes instead of the usual three heading to the Stadium. In all, it took about two hours once I left my house to get to Gillette Stadium (three if you include the shoveling).

Unfortunately, the parking lots weren’t paved very well and many fans attending the game parked either illegally or squeezed in-between two cars in spaces that were too small for a regular spot and then struggled to get out because they were too close to the other cars.

The fans were then in for a big surprise because most of the isles and seats at Gillette Stadium had not been shoveled.

By ROBERT LEE
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

FOXBORO – After last season’s explosive performances in the playoffs where he led New England in receptions and receiving yards (21 catches, 244 yards, two touchdowns), becoming the only player in NFL history to record back-to-back playoff games with eight or more catches for 100 or more yards in the same postseason, Jabar Gaffney figured this would be his breakout season.

Unfortunately for him, the Patriots signed five-time Pro Bowler Randy Moss, and talented receivers Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth in the offseason, and Gaffney has gotten lost in the shuffle as the Patriots fourth receiver.

Last night it became clear that Tom Brady has not lost confidence in him.

Gaffney caught a season-high six passes for 87 yards and a touchdown to help the Patriots defeat the Eagles, 31-28.

“It always feels good to beat the team that you were with and being able to catch a touchdown and make some key grabs felt real good,” said Gaffney, who was signed by the Eagles in March of 2006 before being released by them in September of 2006.

Gaffney grabbed five of his catches in the first half for 71 yards and a touchdown. He hauled-in a 32-yard grab on the Patriots first possession of the game which helped set up a one-yard Heath Evans touchdown run.

“We needed a few yards and I just went down the middle and [Brady] put it up there and I was able to go up and grab it,” Gaffney said. “It was a nice ball, real nice.”

Gaffney’s 32-yard catch was his longest of the season and his second-longest since joining the Patriots in 2006, trailing only a 33-yard catch against the New York Jets on Dec. 12, 2006.

Gaffney’s final catch of the first half was a 19-yard reception in the back of the end zone that helped give New England a 24-21 lead with eight seconds in the half.

The reception shifted the momentum of the game into New England’s favor and it was his 10th career touchdown catch. It was his first touchdown since scoring against Buffalo on Sept. 23. Gaffney now has nine catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in his last two games.

Gaffney’s father Derrick played in 100 games over eight seasons as a wide receiver for the Jets (1978-84, 1987).

By ROBERT LEE
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

FOXBORO – Asante Samuel played like a franchise defensive back last season, intercepting an NFL-best 10 passes during the regular season and then two more passes in the playoffs.

So with a new contract looming, Samuel figured he would cash in like San Francisco cornerback Nate Clemens did. Clemens signed an eight year, $80 million contract this season.

Instead, the Patriots slapped him with the franchise tag. He waited until Aug. 28 to sign his one-year, $7.79 million contract – more than a month after training camp began.

Despite missing training camp, Samuel never missed a beat when the regular season arrived. He entered last night’s game leading the team in interceptions (four) and passes defensed (12), while often covering the opposing teams’ best wide receiver.

Last night against Philadelphia, Samuel intercepted his fifth and sixth passes of the season. The first came on the Eagles third play from scrimmage. He ran the pick back 40 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a quick drop,” Samuel said. “[Philadelphia quarterback AJ Feeley] tried to throw it out to [Brian] Westbrook and I just read it and broke on it. I saw him behind me a little bit so I had to try to speed it up a little bit and scored a touchdown.”

Samuel’s second interception ended a potential Philadelphia game-winning drive when he hauled-in a Feeley pass in the back of the end zone with 3:52 remaining in the game as New England held on to defeat Philadelphia, 31-28.

“I tracked it and I made sure that [Philadelphia receiver Kevin Curtis] was not coming up on me and I’m saying, `don’t drop this ball. This could win the game,” Samuel said. “That’s all I did. I tried to play the ball good, stayed focused and caught it.”

Samuel said that he was surprised that Feeley challenged him again after he nearly picked him off six plays earlier and returned it for a touchdown. Samuel, however, dropped the interception.

“I was kind of upset about that one,” Samuel said. “I dropped it. It was another touchdown but I made up for it.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said that without Samuel’s two interceptions the Patriots might not have won the game.

“He came up with a couple of big plays,” Belichick said. “He got us to a good start and of course on the deep ball at the end there he just had good position on the receiver. Asante has great hands, good instincts and he doesn’t let too many get through his hands. That’s really what a good playmaker in the secondary does – they catch the ball well and they’re able to turn those mistakes by the quarterback into turnovers instead of just foul balls and batted down [balls].

“He’s been very good at that since he’s been here and obviously did a good job of it tonight. Those two big plays, I don’t know if we’d have won without them. Probably not.”

“That’s a great compliment coming from my coach,” Samuel said. “I’m just out here trying to make plays for my team and to help my team win.”

Samuel’s interception return for a touchdown was his first touchdown of the season and his third interception return for a touchdown in the regular-season which ranks third on the Patriots’ all-time list, trailing only Ty Law (6) and Tedy Bruchi (4).

It was also his team-leading 21st of his regular-season career, tying him with Don Webb for 10th place on the Patriots’ all-time list. Samuel has also returned three interceptions for touchdowns in 11 postseason games. Samuel’s combined six interceptions returned for touchdowns rank second in franchise history to Ty Law’s seven.

“I’ve said it before, Asante, to me, he’s the best corner in the league,” fellow defensive back Rodney Harrison said. “Week in and week out he proves it. He makes plays and that’s what guys do that are the best. He makes plays all over the field. Two picks, what can you say, he’s a baller.”

Samuel agreed with Harrison’s statement, saying that he is the best cornerback in the league.

“No doubt about it,” Samuel said. “I always believed that in my mind and that’s how I feel. I never brag about it. I’m a humble guy…but I do feel that way.”

In addition to his two interceptions, Samuel made three tackles and had three passes defensed.

Samuel gives a lot of credit for his success to the Patriots coaching staff.

“The coaches do a great job. They get us well-prepared for the game. They tell us what to expect and I pay attention. Once they tell us what to do it’s our job to go out there and make the plays and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

---The Patriots today re-signed tight end Jason Rader. To make room for him on the roster, New England released quarterback David Greene from the practice squad.

New England only had two tight ends on its roster -- Benjamin Watson and Kyle Brady. Rader adds depth to the position.

From the press release:

Rader, 26, was previously signed to the Patriots practice squad on Sept. 3, 2007. He was placed on the practice squad reserve/injured list on Sept. 25 and was released from the practice squad reserve/injured list on Sept. 30.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 260-pound tight end has played in five career NFL games -- all with the Miami Dolphins in 2006. Rader was originally signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent out of Marshall in 2004. He was waived by Atlanta prior to the 2004 regular season and was signed by the Dolphins on June 13, 2005.

Rader spent eight weeks of the 2005 season on Miami’s practice squad. Last season, Rader split time between Miami’s active roster and practice squad and appeared in five games. He played for the Rhein Fire of the NFL Europe League in the spring of 2005.

With their 56-10 blowout victory over the Bill Sunday night, the debate over the Patriots running up the score has been renewed.

Cornerback Randall Gay said on ESPN Radio’s “GameNight” program that the Patriots are just doing their job and the Patriots shouldn’t be criticized for it.

"Basically, you have to ignore those people because this is a job. We're out there, and what are we supposed to do? Like we scored on defense, when Ellis [Hobbs] caught the fumble, should he have taken a knee because we were up by so much? We're out there to do our job, just like they're out there to do their job. It kind of makes me mad when you hear somebody from the other team's defense going 'they shouldn't have done thatl; that's disrespect.' Do we think it's disrespect when they went and picked up their checks for letting a team score 50 points on them? That should be disrespect, that you went to your owner and said 'All right, pay me for that game I just played.' You can't look at it like that. You have to go out there and do your best. If somebody is blowing you out, you have to play harder. You have to stop them."

Patriots defensive lineman Jarvis Green said on NFL live that he disagreed with Gay’s assessment that the Bills should be embarrassed for picking up their paycheck.

“No, I don’t agree,” Green said when asked if he agreed with Gay’s statement. “The Bills have more football to play. They’re 5-5. They can go out there and turn their season around also to finish up 11-5. What he said was his opinion. They’re competitors. They have been playing us well. We can go back to the year that they beat us 31-0 so it just wasn’t their day, Sunday.”

The Patriots have beaten Buffalo nine times in a row and 14 times in their last 15 tries.

FOXBORO -- Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week after catching nine passes for 145 yards and one touchdown in Sunday's win over the Colts.

His 55-yard catch helped set up a touchdown three plays later to help the Patriots cut Indy's lead to 20-17 with 7:59 to play.

It was his sixth 100th yard game of the season and 52nd of his career. He also caught his 12th touchdown of the season, tying a franchise record.

The last time Moss won a player of the week honor was in 2001, with the Vikings.

FOXBORO -- The Patriots placed running back Sammy Morris on season-ending injured reserve yesterday.

Morris injured his chest on Oct. 14 against Dallas. Morris leads the Patriots in rushing with 384 yards and three touchdowns.

Second-year back Laurence Maroney (74 carries, 358 yards, 4.8 yards per rush) will now carry the bulk of the load for the Patriots, with Kevin Faulk, Heath Evans, and Kyle Eckel chipping in.

The Patriots average 135.8 rushing yards per game, the eighth-best average in the NFL.

"They've been productive, whoever is in there,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said of the Patriots running backs. “Heath and Kevin have done a nice job when either Laurence or Sammy hasn't been available to us. Kyle has done a nice job when he's gotten in the game, too. I think the running back position as a whole has done a decent job in protection and also catching the ball out of the backfield, which is an important part of the game…

"I think as a whole they're doing a nice job both running the ball and then in the other areas of the game, which are very important to us, which includes pass protection and then catching the ball from the backfield.”

-- Robert Lee

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – Tom Brady’s career is like something right out of a Hollywood script.

From being drafted in the 6th round, to being thrust into the starting lineup after quarterback Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury, to dating super models, to leading the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories.

Things like that just don’t happen in real life. At least they aren’t supposed too.

But Brady has been defying odds time and time again ever since he entered the NFL.
And as good as he has been since he entered the league – an NFL-best 89-26 record since the Super Bowl era (since 1966) with at least 40 starts, three Super Bowl victories, and two Super Bowl MVP awards – as hard as it is to believe, it seems like the best is yet to come.

Brady is having the best year of his life on the football field and if he continues to play at the pace that he is, he will have one of the best seasons by an NFL quarterback in league history, statistically speaking.

Brady needs just one more touchdown pass to tie his career mark of 28 (2002, 2004), and the undefeated Patriots have only played seven games. His 27 touchdowns are the most thrown by a quarterback through the first seven games in the history of the NFL.

He is on pace to throw 62 touchdowns which would shatter the NFL record for touchdowns thrown by a quarterback, 49, which was set by Peyton Manning in 2004.

Brady, who has a 73.8 completion percentage (169-for-229), is on pace to break the single-season completion percentage NFL record of 70.55 percent which Ken Anderson from Cincinnati set in 1982.

He’s on pace to obliterate Manning’s 2004-single-season quarterback rating record (121.1) with a 137.9 QB rating so far this year, and he’s on pace to finish second on the on the NFL all-time list for single-season passing yards, a position which Kurt Warner currently holds with 4,830 passing yards (2001, St. Louis).

Dan Marino threw for 5,084 yards (317.8 yards per game) for Miami in 1984.

Brady has thrown for 2,125 yards so far through the air, averaging 303.6 yards per game, which would give him 4,857 at the end of the regular season.

His latest victim was the Dolphins.

Brady, who had a quarterback rating of 68.2 in his previous six meetings with Miami, completed 21 of 25 passes for 354 yards and a career-high and team-record six touchdowns in a 49-28 rout of the Dolphins. His quarterback rating of 158.3 was also a career-high.

If Brady can throw four touchdowns passes on Sunday against Washington, he will be only the third player in NFL history to throw four touchdown passes in three consecutive games. Marino (1984) and Manning (2004) are the other two to accomplish that feat.

Brady has given a lot of credit for his success this season to his teammates.

“It makes my job easy when those guys are making those plays,” Brady said of his receivers. “It’s easy as a quarterback if you have people open and every time you throw it they catch it. It’s not like they are making many mistakes. I think they are probably more in the zone than I am. They feel great about what we’re doing.”

Miami had no solution for Brady and his receivers.

“They're stacked, and they spread the ball all over the field,” Miami linebacker Zach Thomas said after the game. “Today Wes and Randy Moss, they just ate us up. When Brady was in there, we couldn't stop them. They are stacked, and they gave
Brady a lot of help this year. They really took it to us. Everything worked for them, and we couldn't make a play and we couldn't get them out of rhythm.”

Brady didn’t have a go-to receiver last season because Deion Branch left for Seattle after the 2005 season. In the offseason, the Patriots signed former five-time Pro Bowler Randy Moss, who leads the league in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns with 44 catches for 732 yards and 10 TDs, which includes his four catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns performance on Sunday.

“He’s something else,” Brady said of Moss. “…Randy’s two touchdown catches were awesome.”

Said New England coach Bill Belichick of Moss, “He’s got great ball skills. It's not just the long balls. He does a good job on all of them, and we've seen him do it before.”

With Moss opening up the field, Wes Welker, who the Patriots also singed in the offseason, has thrived with his excellent route-running skills in the underneath routes.

Welker has a team-high 47 receptions for 524 yards and five touchdowns. He caught nine passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday.

The Patriots also signed Donte Stallworth prior to the season. Stallworth provides another deep threat. He has 22 catches for 367 yards and three touchdowns, including three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. Stallworth is averaging 16.7 yards per catch this year.

“Those guys are making the plays,” Brady said. “I’m just throwing it and they’re catching it and they’re making the run after the catch…The receivers [do] a great job. [They] makes my job awfully easy, I’ll tell you that.”

Throw explosive tight end Ben Watson (18 catches, 222 yards, five touchdowns) and running backs Laurence Maroney, Kevin Faulk, and Sammy Morris catching passes out of the backfield into the mix, and Brady has become the most dangerous passer in the NFL this season.

---- Robert Lee

FOXBORO -- If you're planning on going to Gillette Stadium this weekend and haven't yet been to a game this season, there have been some changes to changes to Gillette Stadium's parking configuration since last season that you should keep in mind before you arrive.

Due to construction, the majority of spaces available have moved across Route 1, away from the stadium.

If you’re coming from the North:

Save yourself time by staying to the right and parking in P10. You’ll have more time to tailgate with easier access to and exiting the stadium. You will have to cross Route 1 at the marked pedestrian crossings, but P10 is still your best bet.

If you’re coming from the South:

Because of the newly-built median on Route 1, you’ll have to decide on which side of Route 1 you will park prior to the Pine Street intersection (near the Seasonal Specialty Stores and The Lafayette House).

If you want to park on the left side of Route 1 (P10 or P11), stay to the left of the median. If you want to park on the stadium side of Route 1, stay to the right (P8 or P7).

NFL fans voted New England coach Bill Belichick as the Motorola NFL Coach of the Week for games played on October 14-15.

Bill Belichick coached the Patriots to a 48-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday in a battle of unbeaten teams. Behind quarterback Tom Brady, who threw a career-high five touchdowns, the Patriots controlled the ball for 38:15 and totaled 448 yards.

The Patriots scored their most points in 23 years to beat the Cowboys in Dallas.

Belichick was selected as Motorola NFL Coach of the Week from among three finalists by voters on NFL.com. The other finalists were head coaches Jack Del Rio of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints.

FOXBORO -- If New England is going to be successful on Sunday, the Patriots will need to find a way to slow down Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, who Patriots coach Bill Belichick said is the "best player I’ve seen this year offensively.”

Brown ranks third in the NFL in rushing with 526 rushing yards. He has rushed for at least 100 yards four games in a row. Brown also has a team-high 34 receptions, putting him on pace for 91 which would break O.J. McDuffie’s team record of 91.

“He’s having a great year and offensively they move the ball, they score points, and they create a lot of problems for you both in the running game, the passing game and the play-action game as it certainly sprouts off the running game, so they’ve gotten a lot of big plays on their play-action passes,” Belichick said.

“They can throw the ball to their backs, their tight ends, their receivers and the quarterback is athletic. They have, I think, pretty good balance on their offense and I think that’s shown up in the production.”

The Patriots have had success stopping Brown in the past. In three career games against the Pats, Brown only has 124 yards rushing on 39 carries.

Brown has a lot to play for this time around. Not only is he trying to lead the Dolphins (0-6) to their first victory of the season, but with a 100-yard game against the Patriots, he would become just the second Dolphin to post five straight 100-yard rushing games, joining Ricky Williams, who did it in Weeks 10-14 in 2002.

Brown said that the Dolphins are playing for pride.

"We're sitting her at 0-6, but you still have to come out and compete, and that's what this game is about -- being competitive," Brown said. "A situation like this shows the type of character you have."

Check out tomorrow's Providence Journal for more news on the Patriots.

-- Robert Lee

The Patriots released their Thursday injury report and there are no changes from Wednesday.

Linebacker Eric Alexander (knee), running back Sammy Morris (chest), and tight end Benjamin Watson (ankle) did not participate in practice.

Cornerback Randall Gay (thigh), running back Laurence Maroney (groin), safety Mel Mitchell (groin), guard Stephen Neal (shoulder), receivers Donte' Stallworth (knee) and Kelley Washington (hamstring), and linebacker Adalius Thomas (ankle) had limited participation in practice.

The New England Patriots held a walkthrough in the Dana-Farber Field House today.

The players wore shorts and T-shirts. The media was present for a special teams drill.

It was a typical Thursday in the Patriots locker room where few players were available to speak to the media.

One big surprise was that injured running back Laurence Maroney (groin), who missed the last three games, was available to talk to the press.

Maroney said that while he hopes to be back on Sunday, especially with Sammy Morris out of the Patriots lineup, he added that he isn’t going to rush back too quickly and he isn’t going to play just because Morris is out.

He said that it will be the Patriots coaching staff, not him, who will have the final say on whether he plays or not, but added that he feels “good.”

“I feel better than I did two weeks ago,” Maroney said.

Chad Jackson and Junior Seau also had a large media contingent at their lockers.
Jackson, drafted by the Patriots in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft, is coming off the physically unable to perform list and said that he has
something to prove. He said that he can help out an already explosive Patriots offense if he is given the chance.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said at the morning press conference that Jackson has matured a lot from last year to this year.

Seau, who was voted to the Pro Bowl in 12 consecutive seasons, from 1991-2002, said that he is excited to go back to Miami and face his former teammates. Seau played for the Dolphins from 2003 through the 2005 season.

He said that the Patriots just need to continue to do what they have been doing in order to be successful in Miami, a place where New England only has one victory in the history of the franchise in the months of September and October.

When former Dolphin Wes Welker was approached by the media he said that he had to go eat and then get ready for practice so he couldn’t talk.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been nominated for the Motorola NFL Coach of the Week for games played Oct. 14-15.

Belichick's Patriots defeated the Dallas Cowboys 48-27 to remain undefeated at 6-0.

Behind QB Tom Brady, who threw a career-high five touchdowns, the Patriots controlled the ball for 38:15 and totaled 448 yards of offense.

The Patriots scored their most points in 23 years to hand the Cowboys their first loss of the season. Fans are encouraged to cast their vote on NFL.com

--- Courtesy of the Patriots media department

Hey all --

For the second day in a row, the Patriots had 100 percent attendance at practice, which consisted of stretching and special teams play (kickoff return) during the media portion of practice.

FOXBORO -- For his impressive 21 carry, 117 yard, one touchdown performance in New England's 34-13 victory over Cincinnati, Patriots running back Sammy Morris has been nominated for the FedEx Ground Player of the Week.

The Colts Joseph Addai (136 yards, one touchdown) and Oakland's Justin Fargas (179 yards) have also been nominated.

Fans can vote for their favorite player at www.nfl.com.

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – Rosevelt Colvin is living his dream.

“It’s a great situation to be in . . . Where else are you going to get the opportunity to put, 60, 70, or 80,000 people on their feet making one play?” the Patriots linebacker said. “I cherish the moment.”

Colvin brought the Patriots crowd to its collective feet more than once last night.

On San Diego’s first offensive play in last night’s 38-14 New England victory, Colvin intercepted a Philip Rivers pass intended for Buster Davis.

Don’t call him Nostradamus just yet, but Colvin predicted that he would have an interception in last night’s game last week.

“I didn’t think that it was going to come on the first play, but I knew that I was going to have an opportunity to get back into coverage,” Colvin said. “That’s one of the things that I’ve always liked in my game – being able to be a cover guy. I’ve always been able to rush [the quarterback]. A couple of things clicked over the last week-and-a-half.”

New England couldn’t capitalize on Colvin’s pick though. Stephen Gostkowski missed a 41-yard field goal four plays later.

“He made some plays,” New England coach Bill Belichick said of Colvin. “I saw a couple out there that I think he could’ve done a little better on, but he made some plays. Obviously the first play action pass there, getting out underneath that comeback route was a great play, our first defensive play, he did a nice job on that. He read the play well and made a nice catch, something our linebackers aren’t always noted for, but he made a great catch and that was a big turnover for us.”

The pass interception wasn’t Colvin’s only specialty last night. He flew all over the field, helping New England’s defense stuff the run. He finished with five tackles, two sacks, an interception, and two forced fumbles.

He sacked San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers at the Patriots’ 44-yard line with 42 seconds left in the first quarter, forcing him to fumble on the play.

The sack gave Colvin 49.5 career sacks – the sixth highest total among all active NFL linebackers. Vince Wilfork recovered the loose ball, giving the Patriots possession.

The turnover led to a 24-yard Gostkowski field goal.

Colvin didn’t stop there.

He recorded career sack 50.5 a minute into the fourth quarter, wrapping up Rivers for a 10-yard loss and stripping him of the ball. San Diego’s Kris Dielman recovered the fumble.

Colvin led the Patriots with 8.5 sacks and 26 quarterback hits last season.

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – Adalius Thomas doesn’t fit the mold of a sprinter.

The Patriots linebacker is 6-foot-2 and 270 pounds.

But none of the San Diego Chargers will likely challenge him to a race any time soon.

With San Diego driving down the field trying to cut the Patriots 17-0 lead to 17-7 last night, Thomas, on third-and-1 from the Patriots 37-yard line, intercepted a Philip Rivers pass intended for Malcom Floyd and out ran the San Diego offense for a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown with 5:17 remaining in the first half, giving the
Patriots a 23-0 lead. The Patriots won the game, 38-14.

“We were in zone coverage and [coach Bill Belichick] told us to get back and read the quarterback,” Thomas said. “That’s kind of what I did. I just caught the ball and ran.”

Thomas said that he wasn’t going to stop running until he reached the end zone.

“You don’t look behind you, I mean you look back and tend to slow down so I just took a peak at the jumbotron,” Thomas said.

“He made a nice play, anticipated the throw, made a good catch, and he really showed his speed on that,” Belichick said. “He had a couple of guys chasing him. I don’t know if they made up any ground, but they didn’t make up much. That was a pretty good run.”

The pick was the third-longest interception return for a touchdown by a linebacker in Patriots history. It trails only Chris Singleton’s 82-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 15, 1992, and Sam Hunt’s 68-yard scoring return against Tampa Bay on Dec. 12, 1976.

Asked if he was worried if anyone would catch him, Thomas simply said, “No.”

“You don’t know where they are so I just ran as fast as I could,” Thomas said.

It was Thomas’ seventh career interception, and the third interception return for a touchdown of his career. It was also his sixth career defensive touchdown. In addition, he also had three tackles, one of which resulted in a four-yard loss on a LaDainian Tomlinson run.

“It was just instinct,” Thomas said of the tackle. “I kind of shot the gap and that’s kind of like what it was.”

One of the reasons why New England signed Thomas as an unrestricted free agent on March 3 was for his covering abilities.

“I think it was the total package with Adalius,” New England coach Bill Belichick said when asked why the Patriots drafted him earlier this year. “ . . . His work ethic, his toughness, his versatility defensively and in the kicking game, he has some pass rush skill, he has some coverage skill, he can play the run. He’s a good pursuit player.”

“AD, he brings that playmaking ability that he showed in Baltimore,” Patriots linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said. “That’s definitiely one of those things that attracted Bill to him. And I think he showed that tonight and that’s great when you got a guy that can make the play and then take it to the house.”

Thomas, a Pro Bowl selection in 2003 and 2006 with the Baltimore Ravens, said that he is having a good time playing for New England so far, and that he has nothing to prove to anyone outside of the Patriots’ locker room.

“I just go out there and play for the guys in this locker room,” Thomas said. “Those are the guys that go out and work with you. I’m not here to try to prove a point. I’m trying to go out there and do my job and my job is to go out there and be where I’m supposed to be and make a plays when it’s my turn to make plays. That’s what you go out there to do.”

Thomas said that he is getting more comfortable in the Patriots system every day.

“You get more and more comfortable every time [you take the field],” Thomas said.

Last season Thomas set career highs with 11.0 sacks and 106 tackles while starting every game for Baltimore.

FOXBORO – Patriots owner Robert Kraft released a statement today on the punishment that New England received as a result of the videotaping scandal -- $750,000 in fines and the loss of a first round draft pick in 2008.

“This has been an extremely difficult week for our organization,” Kraft said in the statement. “The most troubling part for me, personally, is the impact these actions have had on our fans. We have spent the last 14 years developing and building a franchise that people could embrace and support. The loyalty of our fans has been the most rewarding aspect of owning the team. I am deeply disappointed that the embarrassing events of this past week may cause some people to see our team in a different light.

“After reviewing the facts of the past weekend, the commissioner (Roger Goodell) has made a determination that our franchise engaged in activities that violate the league's rules. He has determined the punishment and I accept it.”

NFL policy states that, “videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game.”

Goodell believes that Kraft was unaware of Belichick's action, but determined that penalties should be imposed on the club because, “Belichick not only serves as the head coach but also has substantial control over all aspects of New England's football operations. His actions and decisions are properly attributed to the club,” Goodell said in a statement released by the NFL.

"I believe that coach Belichick always tries to do what is best for the team and he is always accountable for his decisions,” Kraft said in his statement. “He has been a very important part of what our organization has accomplished over the last seven years. In this case, one of his decisions has resulted in a severe penalty for our franchise. He has paid a heavy price and so has our organization. He has apologized for his actions. I accept his apology and look forward to working with him as we move forward.”

Belichick said in a press release about the fine, “I accept full responsibility for the actions that led to tonight’s ruling. Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused. I also apologized to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career.

“As the commissioner acknowledged, our use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week’s game. We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress.”

Kraft hopes that the incident won’t taint the Patriots’ image.

“It has been a distinct privilege to be involved in the National Football League since 1994. I am passionate about the league because it represents the ultimate in competition,” Kraft said in his statement. “To this end, the integrity of the game and competition between the 32 teams is of paramount importance to me. Whenever the commissioner believes that the integrity of the league’s competition is compromised, he must act decisively to protect it.

“In addition to our fans, I also feel for our players. I know how hard our players work and prepare for every game and their accomplishments speak for themselves. I look forward to returning all of our focus and energy to the field."

Several players were asked inside the locker room about their feelings on the Patriots videotaping scandal. Here is what some of them had to say.

“Whose fair share is it to say that it was a disadvantage for the other team or whatever,” Patriots running back Kevin Faulk said. “Who’s to say that nobody else is doing it but at the same time, it’s nothing that we can control.”

"I think everything has been stated pretty much by Bill and the other guys on this team,” Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel said. “I think that if we start focusing on what happened last week, we are going to be in big trouble and we got a big test with LT and the boys coming in. They are as good as advertised.”

“My feelings are still the same, as far as myself and my teammates, we have nothing to do with that,” Patriots defensive back Ellis Hobbs said. “As far as Bill, he’s made his statements and he’s handling it so there you have it.”

Some players were asked if they thought the Patriots image would be a harmed because of the scandal.

“Anything can tarnish it,” Faulk said. “You talking to me right now can tarnish it by writing what you put in the paper but at the same time, that’s not going to tarnish what we do on the football field as a football team.”

“We can’t really control [how] people outside of the organization feel,” Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo said. “To quote the head coach, it is what it is.”

The players said that they aren't embarrassed by the scandal.

“Are we embarrassed? No it didn’t have anything to do with that victory on Sunday so I’m not embarrassed," Hobbs said. "I’m proud of the fact that we are 1-0 and we are moving in to week two."

“I don’t feel embarrassed for anything that we do,” Vrabel said. “I think we go out and try to prepare as players. We work hard and we put a lot into it year around and we try to go out and win the game.”

None of the players said that the scandal is going to be a distraction.

“I just had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some Doritos so I’m not too distracted right now,” Hobbs said. “This is my lunch break. When we go out there and practice, we are not thinking about any of those things. Our main focus is to get out there and to prepare in the best way possible for the San Diego Chargers. That’s all we are worried about. There aren’t any distractions.”

“It’s not a distraction really, we are getting ready for the Chargers,” Izzo said. “We are preparing and I think we got a lot of guys that have the focus that it takes to prepare and that’s what we are going to be doing all week.”

“This no different then any other work week in my mind,” Patriots offensive lineman Matt Light said. “I’m going to do the same things I’ve done my whole career to prepare for this game and be ready to play on Sunday.”

The New England Patriots have until tomorrow at 4 p.m. to activate cornerback Asante Samuel for Sunday's game versus the Jets.

Samuel answered a few questons today at his locker. Here are some of them.

Will you play Sunday?
"I guess we'll have to wait and see until Sunday. I don't know if I'm going to play, how much I'm going to play. I'm just going out practicing and working hard."

How do you feel physically? Do you feel behind?
"I feel all right. I'm in late, I have a lot of catching up to do. But I feel pretty good."

Do you feel you could contribute in some way if you play?
"I'm not going to get into that. If they put me out there, I'm going to do my job."

How much of a load have you taken on in practice?
"I go out there and prepare like I always normally prepare. I'm trying to do a little catching up being that I came in a little late. I'm just going out there working hard, trying to help my team."

Do you have good memories of facing the Jets?
"The past is the past. It's a new year, a new situation. You never know what's going to happen."

Do you feel different now physically than you did at this time last year?
"No, I feel good. It isn't different. When I'm home, I work out hard and I give it my all."

Do you notice a difference between being in good shape and being in football shape?
"It's always a difference. I actually won't know until I get a chance to play in a game. There is a difference between working out, just running and conditioning and doing all those things, instead of being on the field and going against another another team and doing the two-minute offense or something like that. It's a little different"

Any picks in practice?
"I'm not going to get into that. When I'm out there, I do my thing."

Does it feel good to be back?
"Yeah, like I said before, I'm happy to be back. It feels good to be back, playing football, doing what I love to do."

Was it tough for you not being here?
"It was tough in a sense. But business is business. Certain things had to be handled and everyone is happy."

Can you talk about the Jets receivers and how tough they might be?
"They're all explosive guys. They can make the long catch, or make the short catch and turn it into a long catch. They're great competitors and they are great receivers."

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – C.J. Jones is one of several players on the bubble to make the Patriots' roster. But after Thursday night’s performance against the New York Giants, he might have played well enough to earn a spot.

Not only did Jones catch three passes for 59 yards in New England’s 27-20 victory over the Giants, he returned four kickoffs for 117 yards, averaging 29.3 yards per kickoff return, and returned two punts for 33 yards, averaging 16.5 yards per punt return.

To put that in perspective, Justin Miller of the New York Jets led the NFL in kickoff returns with an average of 28.3 yards a kickoff return last year, and Pacman Jones, of the Tennessee Titans, led the NFL in punt returns last season, averaging 12.9 yards per punt return.

''It was great to get an opportunity out there,'' said Jones, who only had one catch for nine yards prior to last night’s game. ''Coach [Bill] Belichick gave me a chance and I just tried to make the most of it. I was just trying to help the team in any way I could. I tried to get positive yards all the time and just tried to catch everything I could get.''

Jones said that it was all or nothing for him.

''This game was very important. [Belichick] gave us a chance to come out here and make plays and when you get that chance you just have to go ahead and make the most of it and make the decision hard for them at the end of the day,'' Jones said.

Vinny Testaverde hooked up with Jones on two separate occasions during the Patriots ' second-half opening six play, 70-yard touchdown drive that gave them a 17-7 lead.

The first was a 23-yard pass on first-and-10 from the New England 48. That gave the Pats a first down on the Giants' 29-yard line.

''I just put it all out there,'' Jones said. ''I had nothing to hide or save. I just did what they told me to do.''

On first and goal from the 9-yard line later in the drive, Testaverde hit Jones on a short screen pass toward the right sideline. Jones put two moves on New York defensive back Aaron Ross and sprinted toward the end zone. He was brought down eight yards later at the 1. Quinton Smith punched in the touchdown on a run up the middle.

''Vinny was doing a good job finding me in the holes,'' Jones said. ''I just had to be there when he called upon me. I’m just thankful for him . . . It was cool being out there with him.''

Jones is averaging 31 yards per kickoff return (8-for-248) this preseason, which is important because Belichick has said that excelling on special teams is a good way to make the Patriots roster.

''You can look at our roster in the last few years, or even since I’ve been here, and find plenty of players on the 53-man roster who had a significant amount of playing time in the kicking game and had very little offensively or defensively,'' Belichick said. ''There’s no question that there is a place for those players on our roster and they’re important players to us. Some players give us offensive and defensive depth and fewer plays in the kicking game. Other players give us a lot of plays in the kicking game and fewer plays as depth on offense and defense. Some guys are more balanced. When you put your roster together, you have to find a way to get all of those bases covered. There’s no question that special teams is a big factor in the makeup of your team and in some roster decisions. No doubt about it.''

Jones, who's never played in a regular-season NFL game, was signed by the Patriots as a free agent on June 7. He said he's not worried about getting cut because he's been through this process before.

He was originally signed by the Cleveland Browns as a rookie free agent on May 2, 2003, and played on the Browns practiced squad before being allocated by the Browns to NFL Europe in the spring of 2005. He was released Cleveland on Sept. 3, 2005, after spending the entire 2004 season on the team’s practice squad.

After catching 10 passes for 118 yards for the Cologne Centurions in NFL Europe during the 2005 season, Jones was signed by the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 5, 2006. He was allocated by the Seahawks to NFL Europe in the spring of 2006 and caught 7 passes for 82 yards for the Berlin Thunder.

''I’ve been through it a couple of times so I just take my mind off it, pray about it, and just hope that I got enough film for other teams if this team is not the one,'' Jones said. '' . . . That’s my main objective. I was playing for all of the other teams if this team is not the one for me. I think I did enough to show my skills for other teams to see.''

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO, Mass. -- After going just 6-for-9 on field goals at practice one day last week -- and then missing a 33-yard field goal against Tennessee last Friday when he also booted a kickoff out of bounds, drawing a penalty -- many Patriots fans started to lose confidence in Stephen Gostkowski, despite him going 20-for-26 on field goals last year and making 21 of his last 23 attempts.

Gostkowski has a message for those fans doubting him.

''You have nothing to worry about.”

He said today that he rushed both kicks Friday night and tried to boot them too hard. He has learned from his mistakes.

''When I was out there, I felt like I hit it good,'' Gostkowski said of the field goal. ''I hit it good in warmups this past week [but] in the game, I was kind of rushing myself. I was trying to kick too hard. I got to believe more in my leg strength, especially on a short field goal like that and just do the same thing every time.

''We watched it and tried to correct it. I got a whole week of practice to fine tune everything and I still got two games to get more comfortable. When those things happen you can take a positive away from it and I shrugged it off and made the next field goal.

''I was upset about it. We lost by three . . . Points are crucial. I’m going to work harder this week and try not to miss any.''

With punter Josh Miller gone, quaterback Matt Cassel will now be the holder for Gostkowski.

''It’s just a matter of getting enough reps in with they guy that you are going to have and being comfortable,'' Gostkowski said of switching holders. ''It’s all about rhythm. If you go out there and you expect the ball to be there and it’s not, your timing is going to be thrown off. We get plenty of reps and playing time in practice. I’ve been kicking too long to let one miss affect me.''

Today's morning practice was all about special teams.

On the first punt return, Bam Childress ran it back for a touchdown.

Kicker Stephen Gostkowski did not miss a field goal, as both Josh Miller and Danny Baugher, duking it out for the punter's spot on the team, held the ball on his kicks.

Overall, New England coach Bill Belichick said that he liked what he saw.
"I thought it was a good tempo with the officials out there," Belichick said. "We all know how important the kicking game is. It's hard to simulate it in practice the way it happens in the game...but anyway I thought that was good work for us."